The Dawn Treader
by sjdhsjhd
Summary: Deep within the secretive roots of Camp Half-Blood lies a group of specially-chosen, elite demigods. The mission? To rescue any possible Half-Bloods. The danger? Incredible. Why me? I really don't know. OC fic. Intense action, romance, and humor.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, all! Oh boy another project. I'm still going to continue Sons of Darkness (if anyone cares, because it's not really that popular) but I'm officially making that my second priority. This, my few fans, will be my main event. Background information – I'm sick and tired of Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu OC fics, and cheesy lame Percabeth fics. I'm here to introduce what I hope will become the number one OC fic in all of PJO Fandom (emphasis on "hope"). This takes place several years after The Last Olympian, and all unnatural threats are gone. With that, I live you with my newest, and possibly one day, greatest fic - The Dawn Treader.**

They say that walking out and quitting are two different things. _But what about climbing out? _ I ask myself in dismay as I stare upwards. The Climbing Wall at Camp Half-Blood is no small feat, especially when you're as short as I am. I reached desperately for the next stone grip, still forcing myself to keep an eye on the sky. If any lava spilled on me while I wasn't paying attention, I'd be toast. Literally.

With a mighty gasp, I extended my arm as high as I could reach. I could feel the tendons in my shoulders scream in pain, but I finally felt what I was looking for. The next grip.

Of course, though, my moment of glory soon faded. There was the sound of churning from above, and a masculine blob of flaming orange muck started oozing its way towards me. Desperately, I closed my eyes and prayed to my mother – and anything else that might be listening – and sprung my sudden plan into action. Reluctantly, I let go with my left hand, and loosened my left leg. I swung to the right like an old-fashioned saloon door, and let the speeding ball of muck slide past. My whole body illuminated with heat, and all of the hair on my arms started to singe. My body started naturally reversing its rotation, but I held back my weight just long enough to let the deadly lava pass.

With a pant of relief, I clasped onto my familiar holds. For the time being, they were burning hot, which didn't make things any easier for my journey.

I huffed with effort, and forgot about the last spill of lava, my brain naturally starting to cook-up a plan for the remainder. _I've gotten too far to back out. If I want to be the best… I've got to beat the best. Never back down._

I started fixing a pattern of easy stone holds along the jagged sandstone wall. It was like playing connect-the-dots, only my life was at stake. It seemed as though so many of the holds were out of reach. At times like this, I would've given anything to be 'Mr. Incredible', so I could just stretch my rubber arms higher, and fling myself to victory….

_CRUNN…_

I dazedly snapped back to reality, breaking my rushed train of thought. The wall parallel to the one I was climbing – the scary looking one with jagged rocks that were formed like medieval spikes, and deathly brown stones that could crack bones – started making its move. I'm sure Chiron had all the best interests in training demigods the way powerful heroes like Jason would train, but then again, spending a little extra money on safety precautions would have made the whole thing worthwhile.

After a few fatal accidents in the years passed, a few things had changed about the Camp's infamous Climbing Wall. At the very bottom, no longer was there a raging whirlpool, and pointy rocks, but a much calmer white-water rapid with only a couple small rocks off to the sides. Any small chance is better than no chance at all, right? Sadly, though, the facing wall still pursued the climbers as they pressed themselves higher.

With a few more desperate heaves and grasps, I managed to gain more and more altitude. The hot sun beat down on me, as if Apollo was just trying to make this harder for me. I could feel my entire body stiffen, and ache, but I did my best to ignore it. It was kind of like trying to watch television with a pack of banshees, though.

I stared desperately to the precipice of the mound, estimating how much longer I had before I went 'crunch'.

Time was not on my side. I let out a small growl, and pressed myself to the limit. It almost felt like I was trying to leap to the top. My mind averted to the fact that if I made the slightest of mistakes, that could end any possibility of making it to the top. _Or getting married…_ I figured, as I imagined my body flailing down the canyon, while I screamed like a pack of hungry lions was after me.

Sweat dripped from the nape of my neck, and raced down m spine. Despite all that was happening, I tried not to giggle. Laughing was never a good flaw to have; ever. I could nearly picture myself in a high-intensity fight with an ages-old Spartan warrior, and right as he was about to deliver my death blow, I would start singing like a hyena.

I risked a small peak over my shoulder, and automatically regretted it. The wall chasing me wasn't more than 20 feet away, mocking my every move. Frantically, I clambered up faster than I thought I could. All of my instincts were driving me to reach the top, and I didn't even care that it felt like it was raining on my body. With a small sense of relief, I felt my right hand brush the top of the course. I smiled a little, and was tempted to do a fist-pump, but I refrained myself – trying to keep in mind that I would fall.

Suddenly, the opposing wall tapped my butt, reminding me to stay determined for a few more seconds…

I groaned and slid my right leg over the top. The wall following me started to brush my right side, and with one final cry, I rolled sideways, giving myself _just_ the boost I need to scramble over the top.

_BOOM!_

I heard over my own deep breathing, as the two walls collided, and the water below churned.

"I need to whip my fat butt into shape…" I panted, talking to myself.

Gingerly, I used the bottom of my orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt to wipe the sweat out of my face and brow, and stretched out my arms to dry in the breeze accumulated in the high elevation. My body was burning with soreness, and my forearms were, well, burning.

I could have stayed in that single spot all day, but I knew had to rise eventually. I padded over to the edge of the soft, grassy platform, and sat down – dangling my feet over the edge.

It was the highest spot in Camp, which made for a great view. The sun over the ocean seemed to illuminate the ancient Greek-style building in the camp. The green grass had been stomped down by the many campers, and specks of bright orange dotted the horizon. I noticed a group of satyrs and naiads picking a game of volleyball with a group of Aphrodite children. Some big burly looking Hephaestus kids were comparing some sort of shining metal, and Mr. D. and Chiron were playing a rousing game of pinochle on the porch of the Big House.

The Big House…

With my ADHD, my eyes subconsciously averted towards the tall pine trees just behind the Big House, where there was a flicker of movement.

And that was the first time I saw Him.

"Him" is a pronoun. I think a pronoun is a very under-rated grammatical element. I mean… symbolism has been around since there was something draw on. I think a pronoun is the modern symbolist version of a greater force. Weird – I know – but just think about it. Who is they "They" in all the common references? Who is Nobody? Not the one in the myth, but the natural force. I guess it's another one of those little things that no one seems to care about until it comes around and bites them.

Even from my distance, I could see the glint of his deep, plotting, navy blue eyes. Even the shine that the gel products in his hair glinted in his coppery-blonde hair. He appeared to be making eye contact with me… and his distant facial expression made me think he was smiling.

But why was he singling me out? I fit in pretty normally, I was nothing special. Why me?

But as quickly as 'He' appeared, he disappeared into the shadows of the trees again.

I sighed; this whole afternoon had been way too intense for my liking. With one last glance towards the tall pines 'He' had walked out of for a few moments, I leaped off the side of the wall, and started a free-fall towards the 25-foot gentle water, pool below.

*****


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm impressed! 7 reviews are more than I was even hoping for! You guys rock. Thanks Ale, The Poetic Nightmare, caitlumms, dnrl, Element, and twinkle951. I'm going to need all of the reviews I can get to make this the number one OC fic in PJO fandom! **

**Also, I'd like to give a shout-out to fandom. May my grandparent's dog – a small black miniature poodle – rest in peace. He lived a long happy life, though haunted by insufferable pains in his later years. No matter what happened to his moods, we always loved him. R.I.P Filo Beddo. I love you, pup.**

**(What can I say? My grandfather's a man with wonderful taste in movies!)**

**Without any more chit-chat, here's chapter 2! Enjoy. This chapter may seem slow – but I had to introduce my character at some point.**

As soon as I splashed into the cool pool below, I felt like I didn't even want to get out. The water had a sort of naturally cleansing feeling, and it was ice-cold. The blue waters could make any camper who had braved the climb purr like a kitten.

I finally built up the strength to exit the pool, and waddled back towards the cabins. After the dip, the burning pain from my muscles had been sucked away, but I still felt as stiff as a wooden plank, and just to put the cherry on top, I had a throbbing headache caused by the sudden adrenaline rush that had somehow mysteriously vanished.

It felt like my arms were tied to boulders once I lifted them towards the door knob to my cabin. The place – as do most cabins – looked as though it had been recently re-modeled. It hadn't, but the gods always gave it that type of feel. The beds were pushed off to the left side, leaving just enough space in between each bunk to crawl through. This gave the rest of the cabin plenty of room to add more important things, like a row of book shelves (that were rarely used) and a few desks lined-up in the back. There were no computers, but the desks were littered with blueprints to various designs and useful crafts. The walls were painted a soft maroon color, which matched well with the exterior grey color. There were windows scattered high upon the wall, angled _just_ right to let light filter in. All of the beds were made sloppily, and were stacked with belongings.

I made my way straight to my bunk – the second one in the row. One advantage to staying at the camp year-round was the freedom in choice. I had half-a-year to decide which bunk I wanted, but I never strayed too far from my current one.

I could have fallen asleep as soon as I plopped down on the warm grey sheets, but falling asleep during the day at camp Half-Blood was like sending up a flare signal shouting "Prank me! Prank me!" Especially since our cabin was just to the right of Hermes cabin.

Instead, I instinctively started creeping my hand towards the bottom of my bunk. That was where I kept my personal belongings – which weren't much. An extra change of clothes and my favorite Red Sox hat was all the clothing I owned, plus a notebook that I always tried to keep hidden.

The thing wasn't exactly a diary. It was a thick green book jam-packed with designs of chariots and automobiles, and the occasional doodle.

After I was reassured that it hadn't been touched, I rolled out of bed, and trotted wearily into the washroom. It was a small area that each cabin had, with a couple of mirrors and a few sinks. The place was currently abandoned, so I started washing my face with cool water.

After I wiped the water off of my face, I looked at myself in the mirror. The light filtering through the doorway seemingly lit-up my hair. It was a dark golden blonde color that extended down to my brow. My face was pretty placid, sprinkled with light freckles across the tip of my high cheek-bone. My jaw line was visible due to years of clenching, and my eyes looked weary. They were a shade of grey, but lighter than most of my siblings. A color of brown danced along the sides.

I then came around to examining my burnt arms. The cool water from the pool had taken the edge off of it, but it still stung a little. I was still pretty short for my age, at only five-foot-three-inches as a fourteen-year-old. I got a lot of sneers and jeers from most of my siblings because of the way I appeared different than most of them. I liked to think that the only reason I looked so different was because of my time spent in Idaho with Tamara, my "nanny".

To understand my past, you have to understand that my true mother Athena had never really made it clear who my father was. I kept a list on the cardboard flap of my notebook. It included Dennis Sparrow, the man who was supposedly my step father. He was an overweight military man with a sleek way of getting stuff done the way he wanted it. Tamara and he were married for six years before they got another divorce, and he has wanted to sneak back into our lives since. There was Pat Segulla, the man who Tamara has had an eye on since I was seven. His mind worked like clockwork, constantly needing to have a schedule, and having a desire to understand everything he faced. He was single with his son, an old friend of mine I had been out of contact with for a while. I even tossed the man who was Tamara's first husband, and the man who Tamara had wanted me to believe was my father for years. I only added it to enlighten myself – the guy was total redneck slob. Marty was very short with a beer-belly, and sparkly blue eyes. He had graying black hair, and a priceless smile.

I always had suspicions that Tamara and Marty weren't my real parents, but once Athena made it clear to me, I attempted to break-loose, and find a better life. Tamara tracked me down as fast as a lion on a gazelle, and revealed the truth to me. All she did after that was give me a one-way ticket to New York, a map to Long Island, and one final good-bye hug. I haven't even left the Camp since. And I guess I've never really held a grudge against Athena for holding out on me, because I was happy to know I had family, no matter how little we communicated.

*****

I eventually built the energy to slink out of my cabin, and take a stroll around camp. Secretly, I was plotting to explore the tall trees behind the Big House, where I saw 'Him', but I didn't make it obvious that I was up to no good. My plan I had etched was to walk along the south shore, and pretend to skip some rocks. After skirmishing around there for a little while, I would follow the border of the forest to the Big House, and pretend to drop some sort of personal belonging towards the trees. That would look natural enough to anyone who might be watching. After all, for all I knew, that guy could have guards or spies protecting him.

I followed each phase of my plan indifferently, casually looking over my shoulder every now and again to see if anyone was following me or watching me. To my relief, I made it to the trees unscathed. I started cautiously approaching the old pines, where I found that I was sub-consciously holding my breath, and clenching my jam. I tried to relieve myself, but suddenly I heard the rustling of feet on tall grass. I spun around, lunging for my pocket, but stopped halfway. I recognized him immediately.

His dyed blonde hair smothered in products glowed in the evening sun. His deep navy blue eyes looked straight into mine fearlessly, boreing down into my soul. He had a friendly smile and his face, and a blue denim coat with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

"Glad to see we're done admiring each other from a distance," he chuckled. I was too tongue-tied to respond, my brain suddenly starting to pay attention to his details. He was playing with his fingers in his right hand, so that must mean he has better reflexes on his right side than his left… I took a mental note to attack his left side if things got ugly.

"What, harpy got your tongue?" He said, still wearing that same grin.

"No," I finally managed to choke-out. He laughed under his breath a little, as if he was used to making people get tongue-tied.

"Good to know," he chimed, sticking out his hand. "Name's Helix."

Cautiously, I extended my arm, and gave him a firm shake. "Nice to meet you," I said politely.

He almost reminded me of a sports-agent, or a public speaker.

"I'm assuming you have a name, kid." He winked at me. My heart skipped a beat when he did so, as though it scared me. He seemed so confident…he actually didn't appear like a bad person at all.

"Um…yeah. Cade," I stated, shifting my weight from one leg to another. "Look, I noticed you watching me on the climbing wall and-"

"Yes," He interrupted. "I've been watching you, Cade. And I like what I see."

I was getting an un-easy feeling about this. I was just an average half-blood, what did he find so intriguing?

"I know it seems creepy," He smiled. "But creepy is my job. I'm a half-blood just like you, Cade, and I know what you're thinking."

I stepped-in to his conversation. "That's flattering, s- Helix," I almost called him _sir,_ "but I'm just any other camper…"

"Oh but you aren't," he exclaimed, "you're something special, new. We need a good Athena kid on our team."

I stopped dead. "You mean there's…more of you?"

He chuckled, and reached to his back pocket. I watched him pull out a tiny black leather wallet. It looked just about big enough to fit a credit card. I noticed that printed in gold towards the center of the mini-wallet was two snakes wrapping around a caduceus. The emblem of Hermes?

He shifted his thumb towards the emblem in the middle, and as soon as flesh touched the mini-wallet, it grew larger and larger. Naturally I took a step back, and observed as the miniscule wallet morphed into a full-blown kit of supplies. He unzipped a pouch, and pulled out a wad of papers. He started shuffling through them like cards, occasionally putting a few away, until he was left with five papers. He clamped the kit closed, and shoved back into his pocket. I was surprised it fit…but before I had the time to inspect, she put the five papers in my palm.

"Take a gaze," he said, motioning to the papers in my hand. I flipped them over, revealing five faces of people I had never seen around camp before. The one that stuck-out the most was a picture of a girl with icy blue eyes, and dark red hair. She was smiling, with pearly white teeth, and no freckles on her face. She appeared shorter in the picture, and at the bottom written in pen I read the word "Moraphine".

I shuffled it to the back of the pile, and looked at the other 4. Next was a picture of a ripped dude, with a leather tank-top on, with massive hands. He had darker skin, and deep brown eyes that glowed with a fire. The word "Brock" was scribbled at the bottom.

Next was a tall, lanky kid with long, shining brown hair, and intense chocolate brown eyes. He had a smile that would send an Aphrodite girl to the infirmary, and tight forearms. The word "Toby" was written along the bottom.

The next picture surprised me a little bit. It was a picture of my own face, drenched in sweat. I had an unfamiliar determined look in my eyes that I had never noticed before. That must have been me on the climbing wall…

Last in the pile was a picture that had a coffee stain on it. It had been bent, and looked as though Helix ad stuffed it in his pocket, and then sent it through the wash a few times. I could make out the electric blue eyes, and the shaggy black hair of a boy looking older – sort of like Helix. And as if reading wasn't hard enough as it was, the letters at the bottom of the paper were faded.

"Um… who's this?" I asked, realizing that talking to Helix seemed a lot easier now. The shimmer in his eyes faded for a moment.

"That? Oh, that's just Zane." He said it as if it were an unimportant detail, kind of like when someone is explaining what the furry lump by the couch was. _Oh, that's just the family pet…_

I shuffled back around to the happy-looking redhead with icy blue eyes. She looked more-or-less my age, and she had a dreamy expression in her eyes. _Moraphine…_

Helix reached over, and snatched the pictures back, and stuffed them in the pouch with the rest of the papers that must have been more pictures.

"Are those…other team members?" I asked. He eyed me cautiously. For the first time all evening, the smile on his face disappeared.

"Kind of," He answered dryly. Suddenly, the sad spark left his eyes, and he seemed like a bubbly seventeen-year-old again. "I saw you checkin' out Moraphine," he joked. I felt color rise to my cheeks. I knew for a fact that relationships weren't my strong-point. I had issues with memory, you see. I would most likely remember something like 'what kind of socks she wears every Thursday', but I would totally blank out on something important like her birthday. And I guess my issue about getting tongue-tied a lot didn't help at all.

"So…" Helix stated, snapping me out of my trance, "I'll see you in the sword-fighting arena at around six tomorrow morning?"

That caught me off guard. This exchange had gone nowhere.

"Um…yeah…?" I finished, making it sound more like a question.

He winked, as he started walking backwards towards the trees. "Good. See ya' then, Cade."

There was still one question out of a million bothering me as I watched him trot away into the shadows of the trees, though.

"Wait!" I called. "You said you needed an Athena kid, but why didn't you choose someone else?"

I heard him laugh from a distance. "You're different than the other Athena kids!"

"Thanks for reminding me," I grumbled under my breath.

*****

**I know what all of you are thinking "That chapter wasn't nearly as good as the first!" – Well, I know this. It was quick, and I had to introduce my character, but I promise the rest will be fast-paced, exciting, and clever. Please review!**

**Also – I had this whole story planned out except for one detail, my own character's name! So I just used the same name I always use – my own. Cade. If you have any recommendations I'm open!**

**Thanks all! Bear with me, next chapter will be great.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow! 16 reviews as of now. That's incredible! You buys are the best! My original plan was not to update today, but something came up, and now I'm free to write! Just don't expect an update tomorrow. Anyways, here we go…Review please!**

Plenty of famous people live horrific double-lives. This dawned on me as I sat down at my cabin's table, and watched the sibling sitting nearest to me pretend to finish their meal, and leave. Helix didn't tell me anything, really, so I spent the rest of the day drawing conclusions for myself. My initial thought was that the people in those pictures were a group of demigod-gangsters running a cruel business, or some sort of guinea pigs for experimental use. The only thing I knew for sure was that I didn't want to get involved, and that I had to find some more information about this 'gang'.

It scared me almost how much I trusted this Helix guy. As I pointed out earlier, many a good person lives a terrible lie. A good example – and my personal favorite case – would be the father of world-renowst singer Anthony Kiedis. Apparently this guy was a great father in front of the media – single handedly raising the future lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but secretly, he was an infamous drug dealer that worked for popular bands like 'The Who' and 'Led Zeppelin'. Helix was obviously a son of Hermes, which pretty much led me to believe that he could be deceiving me.

I shoved a fork-full of spaghetti noodles drenched in sauce into my mouth. It was very warm, but it still wasn't too hot, and the zesty sauce seemingly danced on my tongue. The Camp Half-Blood cafeteria could probably beat any gourmet restaurant any day of the week, especially since there was such a wide choice in food.

Spaghetti had to be my favorite dish. It tasted especially good today because I realized I had missed lunch while I was on the climbing wall. I don't know why, but it managed to give me that extra little boost I needed; like drinking a sports drink after running a mile.

After my lonely supper, I clambered back to my cabin, and tried to fall asleep earlier than normal. Most of the other people in my cabin stayed up late, working on projects or reading ancient Greek books in bed. Normally I would join them, and try reading "Goodnight Moon" in ancient Greek, but I remembered that I was supposed to meet Helix in the Sword Fighting Arena at six o' clock tomorrow morning. I wasn't even sure that the arena was _open _that early, but Helix seemed like the type of guy you shouldn't doubt. It turned out that the scratching of pencils against paper towards the back of the room helped me drift away into a deep sleep.

Little did I know how much better off I would've been if I _didn't _fall asleep.

*****

My dream started like this:

I was inside of dorm that looked wide enough and tall enough to fit a circus of elephants. It had no lighting, and the roof had been seemingly torn off. The sky looked stormy, but it didn't look like it was about to start pouring rain, it looked as if it might start raining _fire_.

I swiveled around to inspect the entry-way. There was a row of twelve pillars, but one of them had been smashed. Outside there was a seemingly endless plain, with a few scattered bodies wandering around aimlessly. The creepy look of the place alone could give any optimist a run for his money, and all of the scattered bones and pools of dried blood would pretty well complete the gruesome picture.

"…and the deal i-is set, correct m-my l-l-lord?" said a voice. I spun around again to the dark back part of the room, where two thrones lay prominent on a large stack of human bones. This could easily be some sort of doggy-heaven with all of the bones lying around, and the endless field to play Frisbee in; but something was telling me that that wasn't the case. On top of each throne was a masculine figure. One was a very tall man wearing a black robe. His greasy black hair was pulled back by a dark silver helmet, and his soulless eyes stared blankly at the landscape around him. His bony features were mostly hidden by the shadows, but I could still make out his pale skin, and deep frown. In his right hand was a long black pole, tipped with two heavy prongs. Somehow I knew that this man _must _be Hades, lord of the Underworld.

To his left was a very beautiful woman, wearing a pale green chiton, with a belt woven out of dead flowers. She wore a green laurel, and had a bored expression on her face. _Oh, yeah, just another mortal servant bowing his loyalty to my husband._

She lay lopsided in the throne, her tan fingers tracing the outline of the bones on her throne. She brushed back some dark brown hair, and began staring in my direction. It felt like she was looking at me…

"Hey!" I called, my voice echoing around the gloomy pavilion. "What am I doing here?"

All I got in response was the slightest shake of the head from the woman, and an expression of worry flickering across her soil-brown eyes. She looked no older than 18. _That must be Hades' wife, Persephone, _I concluded. And I guess Hades and the voice – which I could now see as my eyes adjusted to the dark – didn't hear me. On his knee in front of Hades' throne was a hooded figure wearing a dark robe. I couldn't make out any features, and Hades continued.

"Yes, the deal's on. I'm a god of my word, mortal," Hades said, his voice hinting annoyance. "But you must complete your part of it first."

The robed-figure took a shaky breath, and continued, "Yes, my lord. You have my word."

I couldn't help but think I recognized that voice from somewhere…And suddenly, light filtered in.

I flickered my eyes open, finding myself breathing deeply, my face and chest covered in sweat. Looking around, I saw that I was the only one awake, so I pulled my covers up, and tried to fall back asleep. That was when I remembered my session with Helix…

I jolted awake, silently padding around the cabin getting clothes on, but still trying not to wake my half-siblings. As swiftly as I could, I tip-toed out the door and started jogging towards the Sword fighting pavilion, still not sure what I was to expect.

*****

I lurched to a stop in front of the coliseum. It looked a lot like the very famous Coliseum in Rome, only smaller and not as old-looking. Helix – now dressed in a black muscle shirt – stood out front, looking at his wrist watch. He looked up, and pretended as if he'd just noticed me there.

"Ah, Cade, fashionably late I see," then he winked at me and continued, "A hero's got to have his entry. Follow me…"

I kept a keen eye on him as we walked through the pillars into the arena. There was a row of dummies lined up, and a small crowd of tired people sitting in the crowd. I almost instantly recognized them as Moraphine, Brock, Toby, and Zane.

"Ah, Sleeping Beauty has awoken," said the boy with soft brown hair, the one called 'Toby'. "Where's your prince?"

The tall ripped one to his left started chuckling, but it sounded more like a hammer pounding metal. A little farther to the left sat the oldest-looking of the spectators. I thought I heard him mumble "Six is a crowd," but it was too low for me to be certain.

The dawn had broken over the ocean. A small amount of light filtered into the arena, making it a little easier to notice the features on their faces. The muscular one with dark skin had buzzed black hair, and a lot of unnoticeable scars down his cheek. He must have been the one named Brock. Toby had a relaxed grin and a twinkle in his eyes. I still couldn't see Zane well, but he had a motivated look in his static-blue eyes. Moraphine was staring at me in a way that made me feel uncomfortable, but then I realized that she wasn't exactly looking at me, she was staring into space with a dreamy look in her eyes. Her dark red hair was kept-up with a brown leather hat.

"Ignore them. They're all a bunch under-achievers," Helix said loudly, causing some protests from Toby.

"That including you, ya' old walrus!"

"I'm assuming you have a weapon?" Helix continued, ignoring Toby's complaining. I sighed, slowly reaching for my pocket. Subconsciously, I was planning my escape if these guys were not as friendly as they looked.

Feeling a little ashamed, I felt around in my pocket. I never really went around bragging about my sword. It was a gift from my mother Athena; given to me a few years ago. She could have chosen anybody in the cabin, but she chose me. I looked at it like a gift of pity, kind of like how all of the kids at school are nice to the kids who have brain-diseases. It was almost like an apology for making me so odd, and still claiming me. I had to admit, though, it really was a great gift given for all the wrong reasons.

"You'll need it," She had told me 3 winter solstices ago. I always figured she meant I would need it in Camp, but looking back on it, I never realized how wrong I was…

"Yes," I sighed, fishing around for it in my pocket. I yanked it out of my pocket, and at first, Helix didn't look impressed.

"…that's your sword?" He asked gesturing towards the pocket-knife in my hands. It was a solid dark green color, carved with the golden design of Medusa's head – snakes flailing wildly. It was a very intricate design, but then again it was a very intricate sword.

"Sort of…" I said, reaching towards my knife. I grabbed the actual blade, and yanked it out. With a fierce _SHING _sound that echoed around the arena and snapping Moraphine out of her trance, my sword began to extend. The light of dawn reflected off of the thin curved blade, making the dark grey color of the sword brighten. The sword seemed short at first, only being about 3-and-a-half feet, but the peculiar curve of the blade made it seem stubbier. Towards the climax of curve, there was a hardly-noticeable array of thin jagged teeth. The original knife-handle had grown as well, sprouting a soft leather handle, and rivets where I could set my thumb and fingers. Also, etched along my light curved blade in ancient Greek were the words 'The light that treads dawn is the brightest'.

And the thing that made my sword the most special was the hero who had used it.

You see, in the myth where Perseus slayed Medusa, Athena and Hermes had dropped-in to give Perseus a little gift – the shield Argus and a curved sword. When Perseus had finished his quest, he gave Argus back to the gods as a gift – but what ever became of the sword? Well, Athena ended-up taking the sword back once Perseus died, and pretty much storing it in her godly attic until the moment came when it would be used again. And that's why she figured it would make a perfect apology gift for me.

I can't say I didn't like it, though. It was very light to carry around, which was also a flaw. If your enemy struck the sword hard enough upon first contact, it would most likely go flying across the room because of its light weight.

After a few weeks of practice, though, I found the key to using the sword well. Momentum.

If, when you were fighting, you kept the momentum on the blades side, the blade would gain speed, and be virtually unstoppable.

"Fancy," Helix commented, running his fingers down the shining hilt of the blade. "Does it have a name?"

It felt like we were talking more about pets than deadly weapons. "Yeah…" I remarked, "I call it the Dawn Treader because that's what it says on its ID tag." I said, pointing to the words carved into the side. _And I feed two cups of kibble every morning and every evening, and I take it for walks when I have the time. He's great with the family… _

He smiled over at me. "Interesting. But, do you think it will be able to stop this?" He said loudly. I froze. He wanted _me _to fight _him?!_

I watched dread as he dug out his amazing-growing-wallet, and yanked out his weapon.

I wish I could tell you that it was an amazing sword, wielding powers beyond that of the gods, but the truth was, it was only about as long as a steak knife.

"Wow, Helix, you had me scared there for a moment. Seriously, though, where's your sword?"

"You're an idiot." He retorted. I stared at him taken-aback. Based off of what I knew, he wasn't the type of person to bully younger kids around. _I guess I don't know him as well as I thought I did…_

"Thanks," I remarked, still confused.

"You have no potential whatsoever." He continued.

"Dude, you could have told me this yesterday…"

"You'll never make it," He interrupted. Now this was getting annoying! I tightened the grip on my sword.

"If it a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" I growled. He started smiling wider, and that was the first time I noticed his sword.

The plastic steak knife had somehow been replaced by a small jagged blade, obviously made out of celestial bronze. Noticeably written in Greek around the silver hand-guard of his new sword was written a term I never thought I'd be reading on a sword: 'Pinocchio'.

And that's when the wires connected. All four spectators were silenced (even Toby), and were watching with wide-eyes.

"This is a very common sword," Helix sneered, as I watched his blade extend a little more, becoming more fierce looking. "And I'm going to kick your butt with it," but this time, the blade didn't grow any more. Apparently, every lie uttered by Helix made his sword grow, just like the nose of Pinocchio.

And for whatever reason, I couldn't shake the feeling that he was right.

*****


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, ya'all. I might not be updating so frequently because I'm getting a few summer jobs! Oh boy… anyways, here's chapter four. This chapter, in my opinion, is slightly boring and not written as well. Review!**

Throughout history, there have been records of one mortal somehow conquering another mortal's territory. I took the time to classify all of the ways one man could possibly conquer another. There was receive and conquer, the fair way to do it, in which someone received the affection of the people, and somehow got voted in. There was over-power and conquer, where one subject pretty much rose above his opponent with force. There was compete and conquer, in which the two mortals would have a contest to prove who was better. There's also my least favorite, deceive and conquer, where one person builds a type of trust with the current ruler, and stabs him in the back. There's many more was to conquer, but I never really got around to classifying them.

And you think _you_ have some weird hobbies.

Currently, though, I was being over-powered and conquered by Helix and Pinocchio. We'd spent almost all morning fighting, and Helix had won every single round.

Now the sun was high in the sky, and I was drenched with sweat once again. Helix had dumped the muscle shirt, too, revealing rows of well-toned muscles. My shaggy hair wasn't helping my vision much, but I still _tried_ to put up a good fight.

I edged left, rotating my sword counter-clockwise in my right arm, trying to build some momentum. Helix grunted, and took a hard step forward, slashing with his mammoth sword to my unguarded side. Swiftly, I shot my sword to deflect his move. The Dawn Treader's best attribute was its speed, for sure.

Using the re-direction of his sword to his will, Helix swerved his body in a circle, clashing his sword to my opposite side. I managed _just_ to deflect it, which gave me a moment to realize that if I didn't get on the offensive soon, I would be losing another round.

He jabbed, but I juked it, and began to parry with him. Doing so would give me a strong advantage to get an offensive start. My sword, however, was not a good parrying sword. With a mighty heave, I flung his sword left, and rhythmically slashed my sword forward, trying to imitate a basic disarming move. Of course, he read it, and stepped sideways.

I let out a small yowl, and started building momentum again. He charged forward and tried to hit my back. I spun around, awkwardly doing a move I saw running backs do in 'Madden' video games, and tumbled to the left on my back. It made me look like some sort of poorly-trained secret agent.

He chuckled, and tried to stab my fetal body. I gasped, and concentrated every ounce of my strength to get back up.

I rolled like a log to the right, causing him to pretty much stab the ground. I did a push up, and regained my balance just in time for Helix to attack me, using a great amount of force with his slash.

"Come on, Helix, aren't you going a little too hard on the kid?" Asked a voice from the crowd. I guessed that it was Toby.

He grunted, and used his own momentum to spin around. I raised my sword, and watched him, expecting him to land a blow to my free side. Oddly enough, though, he hit away my sword, and jabbed his elbow right in my face. Dazedly, I stumbled backwards, and instinctively felt for blood.

_BOOM!_

I flailed helplessly to the ground, being cantered by Helix and his sword.

"Don't be afraid to get physical!" He coached, holding the tip of his blade to my throat. "Oh, and I win again. That makes it six rounds to none."

"Yeah…" I huffed. He chuckled and rolled off of me. "I think that just about does it for today, but I expect to see you again tonight. Ten o' clock. Go rest up."

"Wait, again?" I asked baffled.

"Yeah," he shrugged, "why not?"

All of the spectators plus Helix were looking at me, and I suddenly felt self-conscious. I figured that if I let them down I would look like a coward. Besides, apparently I needed all of the practice I could get.

With a sigh of defeat, I panted, "Deal,"

He smiled. "Good. And for the next three days, count on me to be your mentor."

*****

I limped sorely back to my cabin, trying not to groan in pain. Those sessions made the climbing wall look like a Sunday drive...

"Hey," said a girl's voice. It sounded happy, tinted with a little bit of uneasiness. I spun around, slightly surprised. I couldn't really think of any girls in the camp that would want to talk to me.

"Um… hey… Morphine? Was that your name?" I stuttered, starting to blush.

She giggled. "No, that's a medicine. It's Moraphine, daughter of Morpheus."

_Oh, _I realized, _I guess I never put much thought into their Olympian parents…_

"Oh," I stifled, "I'm Cade, son of…Athena. You probably recognize me from that butt-whooping Helix gave me."

I felt dumb. What kind of conversation starter was that? Surprisingly, though, she smiled. "That's what I came here to talk about."

Great, a girl finally talks to me, and our conversation subject is about me getting my butt handed to me by a seventeen-year-old.

"I'm a little out of practice…" I mumbled.

"No, silly. I'm not here to rub it in your face!" She said. My stiff shoulders relaxed a little. "Much." She added. "Actually, I'm here to tell you something. Helix…is a busy man. Normally he doesn't take the time mentor new recruits."

"Recruits?" I asked.

"Yeah. I take it he didn't tell you much yet?"

"Tell me much about what?"

She ignored my last question, and simply nodded. "Well, just keep in mind that Helix has a lot of faith in you. Don't let him down!" She finished, and started to make her way towards the Big House, not giving me the opportunity to speak.

*****

My stomach howled in pain as I stumbled into the Mess Hall. I picked the first plate of food I saw, and said "Ice water" into my cup. I sat down at Athena's wooden table, which currently wasn't very crowded because lunch had passed already. I devoured my meal happily, making my wounds seemingly disappear for the time being. I was still wary, but the Mac n' cheese seemed to kick my mind back into gear.

After the hearty meal, I grudgingly skipped canoe lessons, and headed straight to my cabin. I hoped that Helix had warned Chiron that I would be missing some lessons in the future…

I swung the door open to the familiar pad; now empty. I did a massive belly-flop onto my bed, which hadn't been made because of the rush I was in this morning. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell into a deep slumber, hoping that I wouldn't be disturbed by more nightmares.

---

At first, I thought that I had awoken, and instinctively headed somewhere, as I do sometimes, but then it occurred to me that I was probably dreaming.

It was sunset, and the ocean looked like a pot of blue fire, twinkling like the stars. I felt the ground beneath me, relieved that I wasn't in a stone dorm this time, but instead on a grassy hill looking over the ocean. Somehow I recognized the place, but I still wasn't exactly sure…

"Hey!" Said a familiar voice. I snapped my head sideways, and got a glance at Moraphine. Her dark red curly hair wasn't kempt in a brown leather hat anymore, but she still looked exactly how I saw her that day.

"Oh, hi." I smiled. I wasn't as nervous around her, because I knew this was a dream. Wait, why was I dreaming about Moraphine?

She started randomly giggling. "Be careful what you're thinking about Cade."

I was taken off guard. "…why?"

"You remember who my dad is right? Morpheus?"

I nodded.

"I'm controlling your dream right now. I like you Cade and I want to help you. I pretended to go take a nap, and I simply entered your dream."

"That's awesome! Are Athena kids, like, the only demigods who don't get superpowers?"

She smiled a little. "It's not like I was born with them. It took years and years of practice…"

"But still…"

"Look to your left." She said, with a mischievous glint on her eyes. Normally I wouldn't, but I reminded myself that it was only a dream, so I obeyed.

"AGH!" I screamed, leaping to my feet, feeling a jolt of adrenaline and fear race up my spine. I tried reaching for my sword, but naturally I tripped on my own feet, and landed with my head in Moraphine's lap. She was laughing uncontrollably at my shock.

"HISS!" Spat the beast ahead of me. It was at least six foot, with fangs that could crush my skull. It had a horde of eyes that looked like evil red grapes, and enough fur to provide a coat. All eight of its long spiny legs clattered maniacally. Its bulbous thorax was decorated with a red hourglass.

The spider stopped walking, and looked right into my eyes. I could see my own reflection in them. I looked as pale as a polar bear, and my arms were shaking.

"Okay, fun's over. Because we don't much time." Moraphine laughed, earning a dreamy look in her eyes again. The spider blurred, and disappeared.

"What the Hades? This is your twisted version of fun?" I shouted, returning to my previous spot, the color rising to my cheeks.

She shrugged. "Just thought I'd prove my powers to you."

I shook myself like a dog, as if to relieve my body of fright.

"Anyways," she continued, "I wanted to give you some pointers before you fight Helix again tonight."

"Wear more armor?" I guessed.

"No. Well…yes, but that's not what I was going to say. Don't let him get to your head. He lies partly to make his sword grow, and partly to get in your head. He also doesn't like moving targets. Try being a little more physical."

I started naturally thinking of battle plans. "Thanks," I said quietly.

"Welcome. Now…times up. Bye Cade! See you in a minute…"

Before I had time to ask, I found myself sitting upright in my bed in Athena cabin. Some of my siblings were walking in chatting with each other, some with marshmallow on the sides of their mouths. I figured they were probably just finishing the campfire, which meant it was about nine-thirty. I slid out of bed, and tried to sneak towards the door.

"Cade? What are you doing? Lights out in thirty minutes." Asked the cabin leader, Malcolm. He was the oldest one in the cabin, and the only one who had actually met my older half-sister Annabeth Chase, the one who was rumored to have helped the legendary Percy Jackson defeat Kronos.

I grabbed the first excuse that came to mind. "I need a shower. I fell asleep earlier, and I never got the chance. I'll be back in a minute."

He didn't look totally sold. "Okay, Cade. Whatever. Just be back soon…"

I nodded, and walked out the door. As soon as I heard the 'click' of the knob, I started jogging towards the Arena, ignoring the blistering pain through my body.

*****

Night had fallen long ago, and the only provided light for our session was the moon. This time, the spectators weren't as enveloped in the fighting.

"Come on, kid!" Shouted Toby. "Stick it to the man!"

With ADHD, ignoring their chants was hard.

Helix spun around, and collided with my spinning sword. I managed to collect enough momentum, and I sent his sword ricocheting backwards. He grunted, and used his let foot to kick me. That trick was getting slightly old, though, and I simply absorbed the blow painfully. I guess when I practiced with other demigods from the camp, they only used their swords. Helix liked to use his physicality to his advantage, making him a very tough fighter. His moves made me think of those professional UFC fighters.

_Crack!_

Our swords collided again, but this time he stuck with me. We parried about 3 turns, until he managed to lock my sword with his. With a heave he launched me backwards. After that, I attempted to get up, but was stopped half way. I squirmed a bit but Helix held me in a lock, ready to beat me once again. He stopped before delivering the blow, though.

"You can always change positions." He panted; sweat dripping from his jaw onto my forehead. Looking back on it, I realize how that is so true, and how it could be true not only in fighting but everything else in life.

_You can always change positions._

I didn't exactly understand what he meant, but my hesitation killed me. He held his sword to my throat once again.

"Tough luck kid. You're getting better, though." He panted, getting up wobbly, and heading over to his water bottle.

I sat down against a pillar, and looked over at the others. Zane was above the rest of them, sprawled out; using a tissue to clean what appeared to be a knife. Brock and Toby were talking to each other, discussing their bets for who would win the next fight.

Moraphine was staring at me. When I made eye contact with her, she simply nodded, reminding me of her pointers.

"Okay, Cade, one more round and then it's someone else's turn." Helix stated, sending a couple drips of water tumbling out of his mouth.

I stood up reaching for my sword.

"Ready…steady…go!" Helix shouted charging at me. I held his angry gaze, trying not to let it go, and chicken out again. I wouldn't back down this time.

At the last instant before he could land a blow on me, I sprinted sideway, causing him to stumble a bit. I tried not to smile, and kept running around in a circle. Eventually he caught on to my pattern, and tried to intercept me. I clashed his sword to mine, and started spinning my blade to gain momentum. I spun around his side, sticking out my elbow, and jabbing it into the back of his head. He spun around in rage, only to see that I had sprinted away again. He swore under his breath and began to chase after me - again.

_Sh… I'm hunting for Cade… _I imagined him say.

I started to slow my pace, and Helix quickly jumped on my tail. He slashed at my head, but I managed to duck, and flop onto the ground. As he ran over me, and fell to the floor, he knocked the breath right out of my stomach; I gasped, and lunged my blade at him. He made a futile attempt to block, giving me just the amount of time I needed to leap onto his stomach.

He started laughing. "Forgetting something?"

I put my sword to his throat.

"Congrats!" He cheered, "But you must always be aware of this," He used his feet to grasp my leg, and flipped us sideways, making sure that _I_ was under _him._ "You can always switch positions."

He winked at me again, and got off of me. I attempted to get up, but collapsed again. I huffed with pain, and listened to Toby cheer, "Whoo! That's five buck, Brock. I _so _own you…"

"You need to start exercising more." Helix commented, extending his hand down to me. I took it, and he hoisted me to a standing position.

"Thanks for reminding me. But what can I say? Ice cream is my fatal flaw."

"Whatever, Cade." He laughed. "Go take a seat and send Moraphine."

I followed his command, and replaced Moraphine in the crowd. Toby glanced at me, and must've noticed how shy I looked, and slid over next to me.

"Hey dude. I like you. Ya' know why?" He sang, "Because you just made me five bucks. Name's Toby, by the way. My dad's Apollo."

"Um…hi Toby. I'm Cade, my mom's Athena." I responded.

"Good to know ya' Cade."

By the sound of it, Toby and Brock had started another bet, because Brock wanted his five dollars back.

I sat back in my seat, and watched the fight. Moraphine had picked a sword from the armory, and was know running laps around a tired-looking Helix. I thought it was just exhaustion, but as the fight continued, Helix's eyes grew heavier and heavier, until he eventually fell to his knees, and practically let Moraphine – such a feminine girl – win the battle.

"Wow," was all I managed to say.

"That's makes it ten," I heard Toby say, and Brock grumble. It sounded like Zane was snoring up above…

Everyone took their turn, each one showing a special showcase. Moraphine took a seat next to me, and didn't try to start any conversation. She looked tired herself, as if using her powers wore her down.

Helix managed to bring down the friendly giant, Brock, who I now knew was from Hephaestus. His weapon of choice was a flaming hammer, and he barely dropped a sweat. Toby was more of challenge, because he was using a crafty bow. It was golden, and the wooden arc was layered like the shell of an armadillo. He had a weird way of stepping, and then shooting all in one motion.

Finally, late into the hours of the night, Zane stepped up, his electric blue eyes shining in rage. That's when I realized something…

"Hey Moraphine?" I asked, finding it easier to talk to her after that dream.

She looked up at me, her icy blue eyes very noticeable in the dark. "Yep?" My heart pumped a little.

"How is it that Helix is fully awake now? I mean, the way you made him fall asleep like that… shouldn't it have a lasting effect?"

She shook her head. "Actually, it only lasted as long as I wanted it to. I let him wake early because the longer I keep my opponent asleep, the wearier I get. It's really confusing actually…"

We both turned back to the fight. Zane was a little taller than Helix, which pretty much made him a giant, but his muscles weren't as toned. In his hand he carried a switchblade that was cracking with electricity. It seemed like Helix wasn't even holding back against Zane…

"They're really going at it down there," I commented.

"Yeah," Moraphine replied, "they pretty much hate each other since Zane's dad – Zeus – is the god of leaders, and Helix is the one leading Zane. It's a constant grudge match."

I guess that explained why Zane seemed so bitter all the time.

Eventually, after everyone (except Brock) was drenched in sweat, and so tired that we could fall asleep on the stone benches, Helix called it a night. We all staggered out of our seats, and waddled out of the arena. All of the lights were out in the cabins, and moon was bright. I'd never really seen the place so quiet and so serene before. The moon made the whole camp seem like a shooting star, and the ocean was our tail.

"See ya' tomorrow, Cade," Toby said, snapping me out my concentration. He held up a peace sign, and started to head in the direction of the Big House, the way Moraphine did earlier that day. Brock thumped my shoulder twice, and slowly followed Toby. Zane said nothing, and disappeared into the darkness. Helix came next, smiling at me. He winked. "Sleep-in tomorrow kid. You've got a big night ahead of you."

I was too tired to really ponder what he meant by that, and before I could ask any questions, Moraphine broke in. "Night, dude."

"Night," I responded, waving to her as she walked away.

And there I stood on top of the hill, looking down as those people – my _friends_ – left. I sighed dreamily, and made way for Athena cabin.

*****

**Sorry! I realize this chapter wasn't written as well. But I'm pretty exhausted! I spent two hours weeding my grandpa's lube store, and doing a ton of household chores. I guarantee the next chapter will be better. It's when things really start heating up.**

**Review please, and keep reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hm…we only needed one more review in the last chapter to keep the average of 8 reviews a chapter! The story has a lot of hits, and only 30 reviews. If you read the story, drop a review! Sorry, I have a bad case of Review-a-olic-itis. Aelia – Calm down! You're going too fast. Good authors provide questions that need answers, so that the reader will continue reading. And who said Cade and Moraphine were going anywhere? o_O Anyways: Chapter 5! REVIEW!**

Sleep didn't seem to come as easily as it had as of late. I sat in bed staring at the low ceiling, listening to the sounds of the forest. Questions were still sprinting through my head, like Olympic racers. _Why did I need to be ready for tomorrow night? Why was Helix pushing me so hard in the arena?_

Eventually, though, my eyelids grew heavy, and I fell into an uneasy sleep. On one hand I was slightly hoping Moraphine would visit me in my dreams again, but on the other, I really needed to get some sleep. Luckily, she didn't, and I simply had a dreamless slumber.

When I awoke, my cabin was nearly empty. I sat up in bed, staring around the place. It seemed very dull in the mornings, when there wasn't a lot of activity or light circulation.

"Shower, huh?" Said a familiar voice. I jumped, and started looking around frantically for Malcolm.

"Erm…yeah. Chiron needed to have a word with me, and when I came back you were all asleep, so I just quietly went to bed," I lied, trying to make it look convincing. He didn't appear to have fallen for it.

"Uh-huh and why are you still wearing the same clothes, then?" He interrogated, stepping out from his spot by the desks.

"Oh…um…the rest of my clothes were dirty, so-"

"Dirtier than what you're wearing currently?"

I looked down. My shirt torn from the shoulder to my bellybutton, and it had dried sweat stains all over it. My pants made my shirt look formal, the way they appeared torn in every angle, and the thick dirt splotch on my knees. "And what did Chiron want anyways? I get the feeling you're up to something, Geiger," he pressed. I didn't like the way he called me by my last name, as though we were schoolyard rivals.

I shifted uncomfortably; I could almost _feel_ my ADHD kicking in. I taped the first excuse I could come up with.

"Actually, Chiron wanted to know why I decided to go take a shower so late, and when I explained it to him, he needed me to do a favor for him. It took a long time, really, and by the time I got back I was dead-beat," I finished. He analyzed me the way I analyzed someone I hadn't met yet.

"Right. And why are you so tired these? Is this camp wearing you out? You've been here for five year! Why don't you pitch-in? Capture the flag is tonight, and we're short one defensive man. Rest up all you want, because you'll actually be _participating_ tonight."

I resisted the urge to punch him, because I had the feeling that wouldn't be wise. I fumed a little, and tore off my bed sheets. Malcolm looked away, a look of anger crossing his face. I stood quietly, and stormed out of the cabin. I could see Malcolm out of the corner of my eye; he was shaking his head, and grabbing something out of his bag.

I didn't even know where I was going. I just walked where ever it was my feet wanted to go, and stared at the ground. The gears in my head were churning rapidly, scribbling random strategies. It was that moment, just walking nowhere out my own cabin, that I realized how much I hated staying boxed-up in camp like this. What was the point of training if you didn't even get the chance to use it in the real world?

"Cade? What are you doing over here?" A deep voice asked me. I looked up, noticing I was in a different setting. There was some tall pine trees making a barricade from the rest of the camp, and there were three tents in the small clearing I was standing in. Brock was looking up at me in worry, as he toyed with some metal scraps he had in his hand.

"I-I don't know…" I stuttered, feeling a little awkward. I must have naturally come here, where I knew I would be accepted by these…total strangers.

He just nodded, and went back to work. He didn't look up from what he was doing, but he talked some more, "If you're looking for the others they're out having lunch, I think."

I guess I never put much thought into their average routine. I reminded myself that they were just normal demigods, and not aliens.

"Well why aren't you with them?" I broke in. He set the thing he was working on into the fire-pit, and glanced up at me.

"I like some time to myself," he said. His voice sounded like a double-bass.

"Oh…well then, I guess I'll head…" I said, starting to feel a little calmer. Brock's deep voice had a way of soothing your mind.

"No, no, kid, it's fine. Helix has a lot of interest set on you, you know that? Here come take a seat," He boomed, patting the open space on the log next to him.

"So I've been told. Thanks," I remarked, taking a seat next to him on the log. He took his thing out of the flame with his bare hands, and set it on a small metal sheet on the ground in front of him. It was slightly an awkward silence. I'd barely met the dude, and now I was sitting with him on the same log, like we were old pals. I found myself clenching and un-clenching my jaw.

"So…what are you working on?" I asked quietly, feeling the need to spark a conversation. He simply shrugged, and grabbed a tiny metal hammer from his belt. It looked more like a toothpick in his hands.

I shifted uncomfortably. There were so many questions pecking at me right now…

"So… what is it exactly Helix needs me to do tonight? More sword fighting?" I asked, trying to sound casual. Brock sighed.

"No, he's done training you with swords. And you won't be doing anything tonight if you don't agree to his terms," He said with his euphoric voice.

"Oh gee, thanks for clearing that up. Wait, training me? Training me for what?" I asked. I didn't want to sound stupid by bugging him with a truckload of questions, but I had to get some answers.

"He's training you for tonight, and maybe the rest of your life,"

My heart skipped a beat. I did not like the sound of this. "Well, there's capture the flag tonight; does it have anything to do with that?" I asked hopefully.

He shook his head. "What you do tonight is between you and your mentor,"

"Wonderful," I mused, a feeling of dread and fright flooding my body.

"Great," Brock said, bending a portion of his little device, and toying with it some more.

"…do I need to prepare myself?" I asked finally. He shook his head.

"You can't prepare yourself for something if you don't know what's happening," he looked up from his project, and made eye contact with me. I was expecting him to finish with something deep and philosophical, but instead he said, "And next time you two are fighting; lose. I don't have much more money to waste on Toby."

I laughed a little, feeling totally stress-free now. The little spat I had with Malcolm that morning seemed so long ago.

"Well I think the others will be back any time, and they probably wouldn't like to be seeing me play patty-cake with you, so you better get going."

"Okay," I said kind of happy to leave the very uncomfortable log. "See ya' Brock."

He held up his hand, to salute me goodbye, and tossed his small invention high into the sky. It was pretty ugly, being built out of rusty metal and old screws, and it clunked around, but as soon as it reached arc of its toss, it sprang to life. It sprouted thin glass wings, and its metallic eyes shot around, taking in its surroundings. Noisily, it clinkered its wings, and flew around in a heavy circle. I suppressed a smile, and headed back the direction I came.

*****

I spent the remainder of my day exercising. Apparently Helix didn't appreciate how out-of-shape I was, so I decided that it might be best to take a relaxing jog on the beach. My legs were very stiff from all the sword fighting and the body part the hurt the most was my rotator cuff, because of all the circling I'd been doing with my sword to build momentum.

I jogged along, taking in the sights of the calm sparkling blue water, the soft, crispy white sands, and the Aphrodite girls checking their own reflections in the puddles of water.

Surprisingly enough, the run felt great. My legs got stretched-out, and the cool ocean zephyr blew through my shaggy golden hair. It almost felt like I was back in Idaho again, riding my bike along the foothills.

Almost.

When I finished, I felt so reenergized that I could take on Kronos's army single-handedly. Naturally, someone had to bust my good time.

"Hay, Cody!" A teenage voice called from somewhere behind me. I spun around, and looked for whoever was calling for 'Cody'. The sun was getting lower and lower in the sky, signaling dusk to arrive shortly. Most of the campers were done with the day's activities, and were thinking about dinner.

"Yeah, you," the voice said again. I looked left, and then right, revealing no one. "Up here! Sheesh, for an Athena kid, you sure are dumb." I looked up at the cliff line. Sure enough, dangling his feet over the wet stormy black rocks was Zane, fiddling around with his electric switchblade.

"Yes, Zane?" I asked boredly.

"_Helix _needs you," he said the name 'Helix' like a germophobe would say 'bacteria'.

Uh-oh. That was when I realized I had forgotten all about this thing I was going to be doing tonight. My heart leapt like a dog being tantalized with a steak.

"A-all r-r-right," I stumbled, trying to muster the courage to bring myself to Helix. Slowly, I climbed the slick rocks onto the grass where Zane was. He slid onto two feet, and wordlessly started leading me north.

He was a pretty fast walker, so I had to speed my pace to catch up to him. Whenever I came to his side, he would take a slight lead, as if he was forcing himself into a leading position. Then again, the guy was easy to follow.

Eventually we started climbing Half-Blood Hill. No one was in the area because they were busy eating and preparing themselves for Capture the Flag.

"Ah, Cade, glad you made it!" Helix said, winking once more. He didn't greet Zane.

I looked around the area. The sky was currently an orangey golden color, and there weren't any clouds in view. It was a nice summerevening, being in the mid-eighties. The group of wayward half-bloods were all around. Toby was leaning against Thalia's pine, whistling a tune that sounded an awful lot like Gwen Stafani…

Moraphine had bags around her eyes, and she looked like she might be falling asleep in a standing position. I could imagine her falling to the ground, and start tumbling down the hill. Brock was wearing sunglasses, and had his muscular arms across his chest. Helix was standing in front of the crowd, eating an apple.

"Well, Cade, here we are," Helix said. Toby automatically stopped whistling, and all turned towards Helix. I shifted weight from one foot to the other.

"Do you have your sword?" He asked, glancing at my pocket.

"Um…yep. Why?" I questioned nervously. There would clearly be fighting involved…

"Good. A few dollars?"

"Er… yeah…"

"Fresh mind?"

"…I guess,"

"A clean pair of underwear?" Asked Toby in the background. Helix ignored him again, and patted my shoulder.

"Great," he said lamely, turning around to watch the sunset, and taking another bite from his apple. All the suspense was killing me!

"Can I know what I'm supposed to be doing tonight?" I asked quietly, scared that I might sound like a total doofus.

"I'm getting there," Helix said, still watching the sun. There was another long pause. I found myself making a conscious effort to breath.

"Cade?" He finally asked, tossing the core of his apple across the border of the camp.

"Yes?!" I said, a little too frantically.

"I'm sure you want to know exactly who we are, and why we're at your camp."

All I could do was nod.

He took a deep breath. "Over the ages, as satyrs begun new paths, trying to keep the nature or whatever, they started having less and less time to retrieve half-bloods."

I didn't see that this was going anywhere. I nodded once, and continued listening.

"Monsters," continued Helix, "have been getting more and more fierce as more half-bloods come into play. No unclaimed demigod is safe anymore."

I could swear I saw tears sparkle in his eyes. I tried to talk, but I couldn't find the words.

"Cade," He said turning to me, with a ferocious look in his eyes, "we are an elite team of demigods, all originating in this camp. We have no place inside the camp, but we play a major role in the world behind the Mist." His eyes bore into mine. He wasn't more than a foot away from me. He was speaking swiftly, as if to get it over with.

"Our mission," He finally continued, "is to retrieve and protect any possible half-bloods. We _must _keep them out of harm as we transport them safely to camp. We risk our own lives to keep the circulation of half-bloods flowing." Everyone was quiet.

Finally Helix finished, "we are the modern equivalent of a satyr, Cade."

I finally managed to scramble the right words, "But why me?"

He met my gaze, "You're different Cade. I like it. We _all_ like it,"

"How come I've never heard of this? You guys must be, like, heroes!" I yelled. Adrenaline was kicking in.

"This is a secret society, Cade. We don't even have a _name _for our branch. Chiron himself didn't even like the idea of putting so many half-bloods in danger. I'm still surprised he even signed that paper!"

"Is that why you have to hide in camp, and _train _me like that after normal hours?" I asked, suddenly getting all of my questions answered.

He nodded. "We weren't accepted at camp. But we are accepted by each other," he said, turning around again. "It's a dirty, cruel business," he sighed.

"Has anyone…died?" I asked quietly. For some reason, Helix didn't turn around. He ignored my question, and continued what he was saying. Did that have to do with all of the pictures in his wallet?

"There is no reward for us," he stated, still not turning around. "We do this out of the good in our heart, and still risk our lives every day,"

There was more silence.

"Cade there's only one more question," whispered Helix. I couldn't find the energy to speak anymore.

"Do you accept my invitation to join our society, and enter the mortal's world to rescue possible half-bloods?"

All eyes turned to look at me. A million thoughts were buzzing through my head. _What if I die? _

_Should I say no? What should I do? Why me?_

The color was rising to my cheeks, and my stiff legs were getting wobbly.

"You know so much about us," whispered Helix, staring at me. Just looking into his navy blue eyes could persuade anyone to do anything…

He took a deep sigh. "Too much," he concluded, "much too much." He looked around. A chilly breeze made goose bumps rise on my arms. "Cade, if you decline, we'll have to…kill you."

My heart stopped beating. An icy claw starting ripping right through the pits of my stomach.

A great actor, Al Pacino, once said "I can make him an offer he cannot refuse,"

Now I know how it felt.

Without thinking, I muttered the first thing I could think of. "I accept,"

And there was no backing out now.

"Good!" Helix cheered, looking relieved. I dipped my head, just now realizing what I'd gotten myself in to. This could change my life…for the worst, and there was no backing out. _What have I done?_ The whole day had gone so fast, this truth had come so soon… it felt like I hardly knew these people, and now I was risking my life for them? It made my head spin. I was still so confused…

"But now, it's time for the test,"

*****

**Long, I know. Long and painful to read! I'm so glad I can start writing action now! AH! I'm so excited! PLEASE review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Only needed one more review to keep our average! Thanks, guys. Once again, I'll be very busy next week so don't expect so many updates.**

Running around downtown New York on a Friday night with a Red Sox hat on probably wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done. I was still slightly confused about what I was supposed to be doing, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to look up and down every alley.

My 'test' wasn't exactly like the Finals exam at school, but it made me realize how much nicer it would be to take that instead.

After Helix gave his gut-wrenching acceptance speech, he explained to me that there was only one thing standing in-between me and a new career path. He said the test was pretty easy compared to most of the stuff they did, but so far I didn't believe that for a second. He explained that I simply had to venture into the mean-streets of New York and transport a half-blood to Camp. I asked how he knew there would be one, and he simply replied, "There's always something happening in New York on a Friday night," and gave me about five minutes to grab anything I needed from my cabin. Luckily, Malcolm had already left, and I was able to snatch my hat, and a few more dollars to hail a cab. On my way back to Half-Blood Hill, the sky was turning purple, and the horn signaling the start of Capture the Flag bayed deep into the forest. I could only imagine the violent shade of red Malcolm's face was turning when he realized I was skipping out…

No one was working the camp store, so I hopped over the counter and grabbed an atlas off of one of the display shelves. I was slightly surprised that they left the place open like that, especially when there were so many Hermes children roaming around. I dropped two dollars, and a few quarters by the cash register, and started trotting up the hill again. My body felt kind of wobbly, the way it did when you got nervous. Helix said I had all the time in the world, but he added that I had better return with a demigod, or not return at all. Of course, he winked at me after he said that, but I still felt like he really meant it…

After taking a little jog through Long Island, I finally managed to find the main connector, and hailed a cab from there. The thing was a stereotypical taxi cab. It was painted yellow, and had a checkered flag for a logo reading 'Speedy Bronx'. The driver seemed friendly enough. He was overweight with a happy grin, revealing rows of yellow teeth. He wore a greasy white tank top, and (thank gods) a New York Mets hat turned backwards. I couldn't see his eyes from behind his giant black sunglasses, but he still looked at me in the rearview mirror.

"How old are you, kid?" He asked, with a tinge of a New Jersey accent.

"12," I lied, reminding myself that anything might be an enemy. I looked back down at my atlas, studying the map of Downtown New York City. My plan was to follow the highway into Manhattan, and be dropped off by Olympus. I knew that from there I could easily maneuver myself through the city with the help of my atlas, and try to find my prize.

The drive continued, mostly in silence. He asked me what my name was, and I told him it was Marcus Grey. I didn't know much about New York, so I told him I lived in the Bronx and that I was with my family on vacation in Long Island, and they were sending me all the way to Manhattan to get a pizza. It wasn't much, but it was all I could think of. When I told him that, he kept staring at my Red Sox cap, as if I were crazy. He introduced himself as Tony.

After that, Tony turned up the radio, and started listening to Mexican pop music. Don't get me wrong, I like Mexican pop as much as the next guy, but I just wasn't feeling it right then. Butterflies were dancing in my stomach.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of repeating Spanish torture, he halted to stop on the curb of a large building. Luckily for us, the traffic had passed, and Tony knew the perfect shortcut to get us there, which reduced a lot of stop lights. I didn't realize I had dozed-off until an overwhelming sense of power flooded over me. I gazed out the window before opening my door, and held back a gasp. The Empire State Building was a lot larger than it appeared in all of the pictures, and it seemed to radiate with an aura of power. The clouds above the tip of the needle seemed to swirl clockwise, and the tower loomed menacingly over New York. I had to stop and wonder what it looked like to mortals…

Tenderly, I hopped out of the cab, and handed some money to Tony. He nodded, thanked me, and rode off into the busy streets. For once I looked around not knowing what to do. I tilted my head to look up at Olympus. For a few short seconds, I closed my eyes, and prayed to my mother.

_Athena, if you can hear me now, I've GOT to find a demigod and lead it back to camp safely. Please give me a plan…_

*****

…and here I was; scurrying along the sidewalk, checking each alley that I passed, and watching every apartment building and hotel hopefully. On one hand I was happy that I hadn't been mugged yet, especially because almost every man walking by seemed to stare at my hat. But then again, a mugging might not be the worst thing I'd receive.

Eventually, the sky turned dark blue, though it still didn't seem like night. I couldn't see very many stars, and there were neon lights buzzing in every direction, radiating the town and making it look like day. No wonder they called it the city that never sleeps…

The sidewalk I was following was a sickly tan color, with weeds growing through every crack. I had already exited the major portion of the city, though I could still see the top of Mount Olympus, and I was now wandering through a low-lying street, with a row of red brick apartments. Some of the windows seemed shattered and blocked by a sheet of wood, and then some of the other windows were clogged with large air conditioners. Sometimes I would notice a classic clothesline draping across one of the alleys, just the way they did in movies. I had to admit that I was slowly starting to lose hope…there wasn't even any monsters around to reassure me that I was hot on the trail of a demigod! Technically – if I even _found_ a monster – it would the first monster I'd faced alone in the 'real world', but I wasn't too worried about it. I'd had five years of training, and two days with Helix. That had to be enough for any hero. I almost smiled when I called myself a hero.

As I got farther away from the buzz of downtown Manhattan, the creepier things became. Eventually, I was jumping at shadows, and hiding whenever cars passed. I had turned my hat inside out in fear of gang-violence. I had seen a lot of groups of teenagers, circling in the alleys, and we did our best to ignore each other. Part of me was hoping that they mistook me for one of the neighborhood kids.

I followed along a winding sidewalk, finding more cheesy-looking houses decorated with duct tape and cardboard. The dinky lamplights buzzed like a bee, and made me feel wary. I guess you could say that I wasn't exactly following the yellow brick road…

_Crash!_

I almost jumped right out of sneakers, and lunged to my pockets. I snatched out Dawn Treader, and prepared to leap into battle. Slowly, I did a tight three-sixty, analyzing the area around me, only to reveal no attackers.

"Come on out…" I coaxed, feeling my pulse thump faster by the second. Nothing happened.

_THUMP!_

I spun around again, this time tracking where the sound had come from. I strained my ears, and started rushing across the lonely road towards the alley that the noise had erupted from. Like a cheetah, I started sprinting over towards the alley where I had heard the noise. I skidded to a halt at the corner, and peered around the edge.

At first, I thought it was just another gang of teenagers, but as I looked closer, two of the figures in the group were no more than four feet tall. One of the tiny figures – hooded by the rising steam of the gutter – was hugging the other in a protective form. I could tell by the shorter hair that the child was a boy, hugging a somewhat-shorter figure who was tucked in a ball. Both of them were cowering behind a trash can, and a group of three teenagers were laughing like hyenas watching Comedy Central.

"Kick 'em! Kick 'em!" One of the teenagers squealed. The one in front started laughing, and stomped his foot at the two children. They cried out in fear, and tried to nestle deeper into the can. The teens began laughing hysterically.

Something inside of my throat burned, rising to my head. If I had to choose one thing that really ticked me off, it had to be bullying. Especially the kind provided by older kids unto younger kids. Taking a deep breath, I stepped out of my spot, and faced the gang. I gulped, and chose the right words to use.

"Wha-" But I was cut short.

"LEAVE MY CHILDREN ALONE, YOU FILTHY BAGS OF SCUM!" Shouted an old scratchy voice. It almost sounded like nails scraping against a chalkboard. The gang instantly stopped laughing and spun around in the other direction. From around the corner parallel to mine, shrouded by the foggy smoke hanging in the alley, someone walked out. I was expecting it to be some sort of menacing pro wrestler, with fire-lit eyes and spiky black hair, but in reality it was just an old lady. She was wearing a light pink blouse dotted with flower and a purple shawl. She was even wearing a dark green navy hat with a flower on it, as if to complete common perception of the modern grandmother. She had a sweet old wrinkly face and black eyes. She didn't look like the type of person to scare off a horde of belligerent teenagers, but more of the type who would bake us some cookies. Oddly enough, though, all of the teens attacking the children started screaming like Aphrodite children with broken nails, and stampeded right past me, not bothering to look back.

"Come with me," the old lady suggested with her metallic voice. The two children started whimpering.

"You're not our momma…" whispered a feminine voice. The one rolled in a ball must have been a girl.

"Oh, but I am!" She smiled as sweetly as she could, and held out her arms. A purse that was strapped around her shoulder slid down to her elbows. It was made of coarse black leather.

"…no…" whimpered the boy. The old lady frowned, and moved to plan B.

"But you must come with me children, for I will protect you…" the two kids looked at each other.

"But momma said not to tawk to strangers," said the girl, obviously more outgoing than the boy.

The creepy old woman balled up her fist. "I don't care what your mother said, sweaty, now _come with me!"_

I found my breathing going faster, along with the two children's. The two kids were obviously speechless, and they both turned their heads toward me. At first I was scared they would think I was another gang member there to attack them, but they looked hopefully – almost _pleadingly _– at me. The old lady followed their gaze, and also turned her pale head to glare at me.

"Run along, dearest, nothing to see here," She said. All I managed to do was shake my head sternly. Something inside me had led me to these kids for a reason, and I wasn't going to come this far to be scared away by a creepy old lady and her purse.

"Can I know why you need my younger brother and sister, first?" I asked randomly, not even planning to say that. I instantly regretted it. The old woman stared at me, a flame flickering in her black eyes.

"They're _mine!"_ She insisted. I kind of wanted to say 'okay, drive home safely!', but I knew those kids had no intentions with this grandma-from-heck.

"Actually…" I breathed, slowly raising my left hand towards the Dawn Treader, ready to flick out the blade at duty's call. I knew I wasn't allowed to corrupt mortals, but something was telling me that the old lady wasn't human, "…they're mine."

And that ended Grandma's fuse.

With a blood-piercing screech, she sprouted two gigantic brown leather wings, and matching skin. Her blouse was transformed into an old blood-drenched leather coat, matched with yellow claws and fangs. Her black eyes stayed totally the same, but her purse upgraded into a long chain whip, bristling with fire. With her menacing wings, she lifted her now-ugly body into the air, and launched herself at the kids.

Without thinking it through too hard, I unleashed the Dawn Treader's blade with a mighty _shing, _and dove after the two kids. They cried in fright as the lady reached for them with her disgusting yellow claws, but I managed to bustle in the way before any harm was done. Enraged, she hissed, and started waving her flaming whip through air. I gasped, and leapt away. Luckily, the whip missed both me and the kids, but I still had some major road-rash on my elbows. Sadly, that was the _least _of my worries.

The lady – who I now recognized must be one of Hades' tormentors – started barreling towards me. Naturally, I started spinning the Dawn Treader in my arms to build momentum, and ran backwards. I heard a whooshing sound, and spun around dazedly, raising my sword protectively over my head.

_CRACK!_

There was a wave of fire that licked my sweating face, and my arm jolted backwards furiously. She hissed, and clawed at me. I tried ducking, but still got nicked on my back.

"Agh!" I wailed, trying not to miss a step. I could almost feel the crud on her arms sinking deep into my skin…

She started flapping higher into the air, only to take a massive dive right back at me. My eyes widened, and I leaped out of the way, gingerly trying to build momentum again. She crashed to the earth with a mighty thud, and instantly started chasing me again. I was panting like a dog, and trying to locate the kids. I was relieved to find them hiding behind the trash cans once more.

Crack! The whip sounded behind me. I started building more speed with my sword, ignoring the blistering pain on my back. With one hand, she started spinning her whip, and reached for me with the other. I clashed my sword against her claw, reminding myself of my constant fights with Helix.

"Don't be afraid to get physical!" I heard him coach in my head. I slashed my sword at her claws some more, and sprouted a new idea…

"Yah!" I yowled, flinging her arm away with my sword. Hastily, I dove at her, hitting my shoulder into her chest. She howled, and brought down her flaming whip. I flopped onto the floor, just avoiding her angry swing, but still not able to avoid being trampled with her foot. I huffed, trying to regain my breath as her foot stamped into my stomach. I grasped her ankle, trying to lift her off of me to no avail.

Desperately, I stabbed the Dawn Treader into the air. She squawked in pain the instant I made contact, and started flying high in the air – me still holding on to her ankle.

I gasped, happy to regain my breath. There was an explosion of pain rippling through my lower rib cage, but that seemed like a tiny detail compared to the fact that I was currently flying a Fury.

She shrieked, and made a sharp turn, trying to lose me, and navigate through the alley ways. I held on as tight as I could, bringing up memories of the climbing wall…

SHOOM!

She started doing a large flip through the air, busting out into the night. I imagined myself riding a roller coaster, still clinging desperately to her leg. Trying not to scream, I started feeling an uneasy wave of wind rush against my body, until she finally came to a straight fly again. I re-opened my eyes, and lifted one of my hands to her knees. I hoisted my self higher, using the Dawn Treader as a climbing tool. She yowled, and flung a clawed hand at me. I used me lava-avoiding technique, and watched her shank herself. She hollered again, slowly loosing altitude, and tried once again, only to provide herself with the same outcome.

It may have been a nice night if I wasn't spending it riding a Fury. Somewhere along the line, my hat had flown off my head, and my nose had started spewing blood. Still using my blade as a tool, I yanked myself onto her shoulders, where I was safe from her menacing whip. She still tried desperately to crack me with it, but I simply ducked, and started scratching at her hideous face with my sword.

Almost like a landing plane, we skidded against the sidewalk. A group of mortals standing by screamed in panic, and started running towards the nearest doors. The old Fury tried desperately to fly again, but I weighed her down way too much. URCH!

That was when we did the world's hardest face plant right into the asphalt. The velocity of wind shut my eyelids as she slid down the road. With a large bump, though, I floundered off her back and onto the street, tearing my sword out of her skin as I did so.

I tumbled like a boulder for what felt like hours trying desperately to stop myself. My body slammed into the curb of the sidewalk, and painfully stopped my body.

Trying desperately to stay conscious, I spotted the Fury, now sprouting a golden dust from the final wound I gave her, trying to fly up again. Her whole front body looked like a piece of shredded meat, and it, too, was starting to spout dust. She shrieked one last time before literally exploding into a cloud of shining golden dust, and evaporating into the glowing night sky.

And the last thing I remembered before everything faded to black was two young, innocent faces running towards me, staring in fright at my trail of blood.

"Ambrosia…" I muttered, but it sounded more like "amunbringahs…"

The world around me disappeared as I knew it.

*****

**Interesting…I left half-way through writing this to go eat dinner, and while I was eating, I watched America's Got Talent, and they happened to be doing their auditions in New York, and they showed some images of the Empire State Building. Cool. That show makes me jealous, though, because I have no talents! REVIEW, please, REVIEW!!! I know it was pretty lame. Sometimes I just can't seem to hit the sweet-spot on my writing skills. REVIEW and tell me what I need to work on!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yay! Back on track! 8 reviews per chapter isn't bad, if you ask me. Haha! The PJO teaser came out, and I loved it. Logan and Brandon make a perfect Percy and Grover! Can't wait for it, and I say if you don't like Alex Dadarrio, you aren't a true fan. I think it'll be great! Chapter 7.**

Over time, the mortals created something called 'religion', and with it came the perception of heaven. God – capital 'G' – is a whole different matter all together, but the idea of heaven is only part true. Really, a mortal dies and goes to the Underworld, where they are separated into a specific layer of Hades. Of course, they still believe they are in heaven, but frankly heaven is in the ground. Really it's called Elysium, The Isle of the Blest, Tartarus, and the Fields of Punishment. Perception and religion seem to tie together in a lot of places, actually, and right now, I wasn't perceiving anything good.

I realized that technically I had died a hero's death, so I would get a spot in Elysium. My plan was to try my dice in life once more, and maybe dig-up some memories of my past life somehow, like writing a note on my arm or something, but then I realized that if my plan didn't work, I'd be leaving a lot behind. Time was up for me, though, because light started filtering in to my vision.

It appeared to be dusk, and the sky appeared to be on fire. I was sitting down, in a sprawled position, feeling no pain at all along my back. Soft, tall green grass was sprouting in every direction, making me realize I was in a familiar place…overlooking the ocean.

"Oh! Thank gods!" Someone cried to my left. I turned around, and saw Moraphine with a stressed – almost _panicked _– look on her face. She looked like a mom whose child returned home hours late for dinner. I instantly stood up.

"You're dead, too?" I wondered out loud. She stared at me, an expression of deep-dread in her icy eyes.

"No! I'm in your dream again! I've been sleeping all day, trying to get a hold of you!" She yelped. I almost started dancing for joy – I wasn't dead!

I didn't know what to say, so my genius response was, "Uh…thanks…?" I started smiling randomly.

She wiped a finger under her eye shyly, and glared at me. "I thought you were dead!"

I figured she was expecting some sort of reassurance or apology, but all I managed to say was, "I did too."

She huffed, and glomped me with a quick hug. Swiftly, she recoiled, and went back to her same position, her arms crossed.

"…what was that for?" I asked astoundedly, the color rising to my cheeks. She mumbled something unintelligible.

"Why would you care if I died, anyways? We've barely even _met."_ I asked. I had to admit, though, I was glad to see her again. It would've been just my luck if I died on the first night of my new job. A wave crashed in the background, and Moraphine sighed.

"You joined the group, Cade. You have an un-dying bond to us now! You're part of us," She said with a low voice. I guess I didn't stop and realize what 'no quitting' really meant.

"Oh," I mumbled, taking in the scene. I looked up at the darkening sky that lit the ocean like a match.

"Hey, why do you choose this place to meet me in our dreams?" I asked. She looked up, her face brightening a little bit.

"I dunno', I just…like it. It's quiet, serene, r-r-remote, and all around nice," She shrugged. I couldn't help but wonder why she stuttered with 'remote'…

She took a deep breath and sat down on the grass, I followed her example, relaxing a little. We both stared at the sea, watching the waves crash repeatedly into the sand.

"Well, I better wake up now. I would really like to hear some details but," she sighed, using her arms to steady herself, "I've been asleep all day, and Helix will want to know whether or not you're okay…"

She started walking away, blurring a little as she did. I felt the need to say something one more time before she disappeared, so I called out, "Thank you!" But I wasn't sure she heard it.

*****

A brighter light seeped in through my eyelids almost as soon as my dream ended. I guess after I had been reassured I was still living, I made a conscious effort to awaken.

As soon as my eyes adjusted to the intensity of the light, I tried sitting up in bed. Suddenly, a bullet of pain shot through my back, right into my stomach. I screamed in pain, and fell backwards. Surprisingly enough, there was a pillow supporting my head.

I closed my eyes again, trying to absorb the pain. It passed, and I blinked, taking in the view. Why didn't I hurt like that in my dream?

I was expecting to be in a hospital bed, inside of a tiny plastic emergency room bedroom, but instead, I was inside of one of the many run-of-the-dump brick apartments. Tilting my head to the left I could see a kitchen. There was a scummy white sink that was stacked with a mountain of dirty dishes. The oven was covered in dust, and left a large burn-mark across the furnace. Random pieces of shattered objects littered the floor, and the nearest window was covered with a piece of cardboard.

To my right I found a fold-up table, topped with a small television. I was laying on a torn loveseat in the corner. The bright light appeared to be coming from the only normal-looking window towards the door.

Slowly and cautiously, I rose myself into a comfortable sitting position. Needles of pain were pricking my back and stomach, and I had a massive headache. My eyelids still felt a little bit heavy.

"…anyone hear?" I called drowsily. There was no response.

"Hello?" I tried again. No answer.

_Pit-pat, pit-pat, pit-pat. _

I swiveled my head around, slowly creeping my hand towards my pocket knife. The sound was coming from outside the door.

Suddenly, the door opened, and two figures scurried in. The taller of the two slammed the door shut, and locked it again. At first, he seemed not to notice me, but upon second glance, his eyes widened.

He grabbed the smaller one's shoulder, and pointed at me. She didn't look as surprised.

"Are you the one with the big knife tsingy?" She asked me, referring to the Dawn Treader I nodded slowly. She had light sandy blonde hair, wrapped in two pig tails. Her face was little and petite – and covered with grime. Her big brown eyes seemed haunted by past memories. Her brother looked almost exactly the same, only with lighter hair and freckles.

She gaped a little, and reached for her brother's hand. He grabbed it, and they approached me.

"What are your names?" I asked, surprising myself with how groggy I sounded.

The boy looked at the girl, and she piped-up, "Erika and David."

I nodded again, not wanting to speak. "We brought you here," continued the little girl, "because our momma is out, and the hospital was too far, and too scawy."

I congratulated them for being so smart - in my head, and lay back down. Now the boy spoke, "I think momma has some medical things in her bafroom…"

I listened to patter of his feet as he sprinted down the hallway. Sleep began falling on me quickly, while I sorely changed positions. I knew that deep in the pits of my stomach, I wanted to talk to Moraphine again, but I reminded myself that she had awoken.

I was in such a deep sleep, that I wasn't even bothered by Erika and David messing around with

bandages and medical ointments. Sub-consciously, I could feel them stop, and leave the area.

*****

Once again, I was awoken by light; this time dimmer. I felt around suspiciously on my back, and patted both weird, painful bumps, and a lot of band-aids. There was some white cast-tape wrapped around my stomach, and few pills lying on my chest.

As I slowly turned around, I found a note scribbled in purple crayon stapled to the side of the loveseat. The house didn't appear any less gruesome. I reached over the edge and tore off the paper. As if it wasn't hard enough to read with my dyslexia, it looked like a four-year-old wrote it. _Because one DID, _I reminded myself, wincing at the note. It looked like a grape juice-stained paper to me, but after pointless moments of staring, it became clearer.

"Went owt too get stuff frum stoor. take thingz on yur belley and meet us outsyd. erika."

I dropped the note, and began analyzing the pills on my chest. These kids must have been pretty well-trained medically if they knew what to give a man in pain…

After recognizing the pills as some Advil, I didn't hesitate to swallow them. I could have stayed trapped on the little couch all day, but I remembered that I needed to go find Erika and David.

Stiffly, I waddled out of bed, using the fold-up table for support. I winced, and rejoiced in pain as I straightened my back, attempting to stretch it out. I didn't even want to look in a mirror to find out what my wounds looked like.

Painfully, minutes passed, and I managed to stumble outside, where I found myself in the same general area I was in last night. There was no one around except for an African American kid playing basketball a ways down the road. I looked left and right again, hoping to find Erika or David. Finally, though, I heard the sound of someone slapping the pavement. I turned around and saw Erika running towards me.

"Mister! Come on!" She squealed, waving for me to follow her. I had learned not to second-guess these kids, so I waddled as fast as I could up the rode towards her, wincing in pain at every step.

She never stopped to explain things, but eventually, she halted in front of an old grocery store called

"Granny Z's grocer and outlet". A little bell chimed on the door, and David hustled out with a slice of bread in his hand.

Without stopping to explain, Erika and David led me into the store together.

"Well, hey there, young man," crowed an old voice. The room was musty, and packed with shelves of food and odd trinkets. In the front there was a dusty counter being tended by an old woman. I'd had my share of bad experiences with old ladies, so I was being a little cautious. "Wanna' sandy? Fresh from the nuke."

She slid a plate of toasty ham sandwiches down the little counter. At first I was hesitant, but after David and Erika managed to snatch a couple, of choke them down without any trouble, I figured it couldn't hurt.

I didn't realize how hungry I was until I started munching on it. The place seemed to be swarmed big fat, ugly flies.

After a couple more sandwiches, the old lady – apparently Granny Z – spoke up. "I hear you're a fine young man, who gone done saved my little puddin' pops here," she said. I swallowed the food in my mouth, starting to feel the Advil kick in. She was elderly, and slightly over-weight. Her skin was dark, and her dark brown hair was tied in a hair-net. She was wearing dark glasses. Everything about seemed dark, but happy at the same time.

"Um…yes, I did. Hey, do you know where I can get a cab around here?" I asked a little awkwardly.

"You plan on leavin' an old lady all alone so soon?" She asked.

"Er…actually…" I said, not liking to be on the spot so suddenly. She bursted out in a hearty laugh.

"I'm just foolin' with you, son. A few blocks down there'll be a nice little mini-mall and you can grab a cab from there," she chuckled.

I didn't want to spend any more time in this place, the comically challenged old lady. I wanted to get back to Camp and Helix, and Moraphine, and Toby and Brock. Even Zane's company sounded pleasant.

"Come on, guys," I told the kids, possibly a little too rushed. They looked up at me, confused.

"…why?" they asked in unison. I realized I hadn't gotten the chance to explain myself to them.

I didn't know exactly where to start, so I just sighed, "Listen. I know you guys don't like being home. But I'm here to tell you that there is a place for you to be…"

"But…what about Zania?" Erika asked, glancing at Granny Z. Zania looked up at me with her soulless

eyes, and simply nodded at me.

"Go with him children. You'll be much happier where he's taking you…"

"But what about Momma?"

"She'll just nigh fine, now," she sniffled, trying to hold back tears. "I'll explain every little thing to her, now. You fine children run along…"

They looked over at me sadly, confusion dancing in their little eyes.

"Where are you taking us? Who are you…?" They asked hushedly.

I looked down at them, planning my next movement. "My name is Cade. I'm here to take you…home."

*****

After herding the kids outside, and beginning a riveting lecture on the ways of Greek gods, and following the directions Granny Z gave us, we came to a halt outside of the promised mini-mall. The kids took the news of the modern Greek gods surprisingly well, but still looked saddened by the fact that they were leaving their mom and Granny Z.

They explained to me that their father had left long ago (which solidified my belief that they were demigods) and they lived with their mom ever since. After their dad left, they said their mom went a little 'funny'. She constantly took trips to the hospital, which explained why they didn't take me there, and that she had an uncanny way to work with medical equipment. My best guess was that their father was Apollo - until Erika started singing "Mary Had a Little Lamb".

"And why were you out there all alone last night?" I asked, as I waved to the yellow car turning down our street.

Erika looked at David, and spoke, "We were going to Zania's house to stay, and those meany-heads came after us." A little fire burned in her eyes.

I almost lost it when she said 'meany-heads'.

We hopped in the cab, where I fished out the rest of my money which had not been lost in the fight with the Kindly One. Sadly, my hat was. I found myself eyeing every gutter carefully; expecting my hat to show up again, but it never did.

After David and Erika had slipped away into a dazed slumber, I found my own eyelids getting heavy. Rain was starting to drop upon New York – which was something I hadn't experienced in a long time.

I forced myself to stay awake the entire ride, watching Mount Olympus disappear behind us as we trekked on. The driver looked like the stereotypical New Yorker. He was chubby and greasy, with a tan leather jacket on. He had grey bags under is eyes, and a couple gold chain necklaces. He never really introduced himself, he just took our money, and started towards Long Island, which I had to admit was pretty nice for a change.

The rain got harder as we neared Long Island. My heart was racing at one-thousand miles an hour, happy to see my friends again. Frankly, I thought I would never see them again.

Finally, the old yellow cab lurched to a stop outside of a remote little area, holding only a gas station. I awoke the two kids, and led them out the car. They rubbed their eyes, and looked around, as if saying _What am I doing here? Who are you? Who am I?_

I pointed to a hill about a mile north, where the stormy grey clouds seemingly stopped and disappeared.

We hiked north through the downpour, and the two kids didn't whine, obviously intent on their new home. I managed to muster the strength through my blistering pain to brave the mile-long hike, and trudged over the hill, a grin appearing on my face. The weather did a total back flip, and we winced at the brightness of the afternoon sunshine.

My legs felt weak as I watched a familiar face charge up the hill, and embrace me with a playful shove. Helix put his arm around my shoulder, and led me to the others. We dropped off David and Erika at the Big House with Chiron, and continued into the small camp, where Moraphine was tapping her foot silently in the ground. Brock and Toby were in the corner, murmuring to themselves, and Zane was pacing. They all seemed to look up at once, and come towards us. The day had been a blur, but I was home again.

I had done it. I had passed Helix's test.

**Uber-boring! But I had to get something out, and explain how Cade and David and Erika managed to arrive safely at camp. Next chapter is the start of Cade's many adventures, so stick around! REVIEW! No matter how boring, just let me know I have readers!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I've found some time to write! Oh boy. Chapter 8! Review, please.**

I watched the flickers of orange Saturday night light drain through the green pines above as I lounged on Helix's sleeping bag. Their small few tents had been torn down, and returned to the Big House, and the warm ashes in their fire pit had been covered in dirt. The log was still there, though. Helix offered his bag once he noticed how bad I looked (not exactly the warmest welcome, "Cade, you look terrible,") and I gladly took it. Under normal circumstances I would have refused, but I spent the past day sleeping on crumpled beer cans stuffed between soup-stained cushions. At least, I _hope _it was soup…

Toby was sitting Indian style next to me, chattering like a bird, and measuring even amounts of nectar and ambrosia. Apparently, I forgot to pack some for my journey, which Toby explained was not good, because I may have easily died if that Fury scratched me any harder. He gave me a small plastic cup filled with a golden, thick liquid, and a small square of ambrosia – which looked like a flat green brownie. I choked them down happily, relieved to get the familiar warm, happy feeling flood my body. I knew I should have been paying attention to Helix, who was explaining to me exactly what I was about to start doing this evening.

"…Rendezvous Point." He stated. I snapped out of my ADHD-trance and glanced at him, with a dumb expression on my face. He let out a disgruntled sigh, and repeated what he was saying. "Rendezvous Point. That's where you drop the half-bloods you find."

"Oh," I said. "Where is this 'Rendezvous Point'?"

He shrugged. "It's always changing. I like to stay generally in the Northeast, but I'm always changing locations."

"Oh…" I mused, still a little fuzzy on the whole concept. "But how do we know where you are? Why not just keep one spot?"

I already had a pretty good idea about why he needed to change positions so often, but I just wanted to double-check.

He fished out his magic-wallet, and tossed me a Ziploc bag full of sparkling gold nuggets. I almost instantly recognized them as golden drachmas. I held back a gasp, and started feeling around the bag, trying to count how many were in there.

"Don't get too excited," Helix warned. "Those are drakmas, spelled with a 'K'."

"Kind of like fool's gold," Toby commented. "Now take off your shirt so I can bandage your wound…"

Helix continued, "We check in every night via Iris Message. The bag will refill itself naturally, since fake gold is much easier to come across than real gold. We change positions so monsters cannot track us."

"Um…thanks," I said, examining my drakmas. "But won't Iris be offended?"

Helix winked at me. "She can take it up with Hermes; after all, he provides our coins."

I nodded, and plopped back down onto the bag. Toby had finished his medical work, and was now stuffing his equipment into his own magic-wallet, complete with a symbol of a rising sun.

"So," I said, drawing a conclusion of everything Helix had explained to me, "You split us up, and send us to various parts of the country, where we're supposed to wander around until we find unclaimed demigods…"

He nodded.

"Once we complete that phase, we're supposed to deliver them to Rendezvous Point with you, and follow further instructions from you?"

He nodded again.

"No pay or anything?" I questioned.

"Nope," he confirmed. I stared back up at the orange sky, listening to the sounds of the Camp. I could hear young kids playing around, a group of girls giggling nearby, and the bellowing of monsters from the forest. All the natural things.

Helix had also explained to me that a lot of the time I would be riding solo, which didn't appeal to me very much. It seemed kind of scary trekking unfamiliar territory without a buddy, but then he reassured me that once I found a demigod, I wouldn't be traveling alone. He also noted that two members ran into each other often.

"Just don't tell the ones you retrieve too much about us," Zane broke in. It was the first time I'd heard him speak since I returned about an hour ago. "They _always_ want to join after you tell them."

Brock let out a deep chuckle. He hadn't done much more than polish something he had in his hand. I didn't take the time to see what it was, because I just figured it was nothing important.

"Don't name 'em, either," he boomed, "After that _you'll _want _them _in the group."

Toby laughed from his spot near Brock. "That reminds me of the time at band camp…"

After Helix provided some more minor details to me, and reminded me to pack plenty of ambrosia, we all settled down, and let the day roll on. At one point, I looked to my left and saw Moraphine fast asleep on her own sleeping bag. She was obviously dreaming about something good, because she started to smile. I found myself smiling too, but I looked away quickly.

Suddenly, my stomach started moaning in pain. I remembered that I hadn't eaten much more than a couple ham sandwiches all day.

"Mind if go grab some lunch?" I asked Helix.

He glanced at me. "Not at all, Cade. You should probably go say goodbye to all your friends, too, and pack."

_Because I have so many friends…_

I nodded and stood up, making my way towards the Dining Pavilion. I noticed a few people take a second glance at me as I walked. I almost smiled when I realized that I wouldn't have to be seeing them again any time soon.

The pavilion was almost empty when I walked in. A couple cleaning harpies were flapping around, looking for messes to clean. It looked like lunch was finished, and dinner was just about to be served.

I grabbed a plate and a spork, and walked over to Athena table, to patiently wait for supper. Naturally, my calm moment was ruined.

"Geiger…" I heard a familiar voice growl. I dropped my spork onto my plate, and the last harpy flew back into the kitchen.

"…Malcolm…" I responded lamely, as Malcolm, stomped over to the table. I attempted to stand up, and make myself look tougher, but of course, I tripped on my seat.

Something grabbed the collar of my 'Camp Half-Blood' shirt, and hoisted me to my feet again.

"You _abandoned _our cabin for Capture the Flag! And thanks to you, Ares has our flag!" He barked. His normally calm face was a glowing red color.

"Dude," I squeaked, carefully planning my next choice of words, "It's just a game…y-we can take it back next game."

I almost said 'you'.

"It's more than a game, Geiger…we've disgraced our mother's name!" He dropped me to the ground, and scowled at me.

"I'm sure Mom doesn't care!" I fought, trashing my previous strategy.

"Oh, Mom more than cares, Geiger. It was a battle – war! And we lost. All thanks to you…"

I hopped onto my feet, feeling more of a strength-surge than I realized I had inside of me. "Aren't you over-reacting to this? It's a _game!_"

"Geiger, I gave you one last opportunity to prove whether or not you belonged in Athena cabin and you _blew _it."

He broke our gaze, and shoved me backwards. Without thinking, I lunged to my pocket, and busted out the Dawn Treader. Malcolm stopped his walking away, but didn't turn around. I willed myself to stop my hand before I unleashed the blade, and kill my half-brother. _Where was I getting this anger?_

"Go ahead and pull the blade," He seethed. I almost said 'Your wish is my command', but I bit my tongue, and resisted the urge to do so. It would not be wise not to get in any trouble before I had my opportunity to leave…

"Do it. I _dare _you!" He said a little louder. His aged voice echoed around the hall, and I could suddenly notice every tiny detail. I could see specks of dust, and hear the stressed breathing of Malcolm. A bead of sweat rolled down my neck, and my ice cold fingers were tapping the sheathed blade quietly. Enchiladas would be ready shortly.

"Do it," he repeated. Suddenly, I snapped my poor will, and calmly put my blade back into my pocket. He laughed quietly, and exited, right as a group of hungry Hermes campers sprinted inside. I found myself holding my breath, and I simply let it go, re-claiming my seat. Suddenly, I didn't feel so hungry.

I was more than ready to leave tonight.

*****

After about ten minutes of playing with my cheese enchilada, taking a few nibbles, and praying to Athena to make sure things were still cool, I started jogging back to the dull grey cabin. Now was the perfect time because everybody was at supper, which gave me just about five minutes to grab my bag from under my bunk. Frantically, I stuffed both of my changes of clothes in there, and my notebook. I made sure to snatch a few pencils from the desks in the back. I even tried finding 'Goodnight Moon' on the bookshelf, but I realized I didn't have the time.

I spun around towards the door, telling myself not to look back. But as I exited the building, I sighed in defeat, and turned around with misty eyes. I'd spent half of my life here, and I had a feeling I wasn't going to be spending any more of it here.

I let out a sniffle, and raced towards the pine trees behind the Big House, watching the Camp in the sunset as I did. One last time…

It was a bittersweet thing. I loved the camp. It was my home. It felt like I was the baby bird learning how to fly, or the gangly teenager who miraculously got accepted into college. I knew deep down it would hurt to drop the place, but I knew I didn't belong. I didn't have any friends here, and my future had something new in store.

I came to a halt outside of the make-shift campsite, which was now placidly vacant. All of the bags had been rolled up, and returned to Chiron.

The same five people I once would have called strangers – now my true friends – stood waiting, all with small backpacks slung over their own shoulders. I was slightly happy that it was too dark for them to see my eyes clearly. Helix was wearing the same mischievous grin, and wearing a dark blue athletic outfit. Moraphine looked the same way she did earlier, except her hair was kempt in a brown leather hat again. I could tell where she was among the boys because of her bright blue eyes. Brock and Toby hadn't changed much, except Brock had slipped on his sunglasses, and Toby had his shiny golden bow slung over his shoulders.

"You made it on time!" Toby called, with fake exuberance.

"Don't mind him, kid," Zane muttered, clearly annoyed. The sky was the color of a blueberry, and stars were starting to pop up.

Helix stepped forward, and clapped my shoulder. "You've made it this far, Cade!"

I smiled a little, thinking back on what it took to get where I was now. It felt like just yesterday I was straining to conquer the Climbing Wall, and suddenly I was here in a whirlwind, going out to defend my kind. We all started walking as a pack along the dark edge of the musty green forest. It seemed as though even the monsters stopped their hungry growling to let us pass.

I imagined the look of anger upon Malcolm's face as he realized I'd gone missing, and my stuff wasn't there. I trusted Helix had cleared me with Chiron, though.

All of us trudged to the top of the familiar Half-Blood Hill, and stopped by Thalia's Pine. I Sighed melodramatically, and looked one last time at the settling camp. The last of the satyrs and draiads were rushing into the forest, and some of the campers were settling into their assorted cabins. The Mess Hall and Arena towered over the dark ocean, as if adding the cherry to the quiet image. I stopped my lower lip from quivering.

"There's no turning back kid. Congratulations." Helix said quietly, handing me a wet cardboard box. "Sorry, that's the only thing I could find…"

I looked at Helix, and then the package. I gently flopped open the cardboard lids, and reached inside. I fished around until I grabbed something leather, and pulled it out. Sure enough, by the light of dusk, I found a miniature leather wallet with the insignia of an owl in the center.

"…thank you…" I managed, examining the magic-wallet.

"You can mess with it later," Zane grumped, already crossing the border. "We have work to do!"

Helix winked at me, and followed Zane across. I sighed, and followed the others across the border one last time.

We started walking down the hill silently. I pushed the wallet into my back pocket.

Finally, we reached the closest road – the same one I'd been on twice in the past forty-eight hours.

"Oh, Cade, I almost forgot…" Helix said suddenly, watching down the road for a taxi. "Since it's your first time out there, I'm going to allow you to choose a partner. Once, though. After that, you're all alone…"

I heard some of the others sneer. Toby and Zane looked sort of jealous, and Brock was still emotionless. Moraphine had an almost _hopeful_ look in her eyes.

I realized that Moraphine probably wanted to go with me. I suppose that was only fair, since she had helped me so much the past few days, but then again, Helix had been my mentor.

"Um…Helix," I said, feeling like a contestant on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'. Helix shook his head.

"Sorry, Cade, someone's got to watch Rendezvous Point…" He said, shrugging. I nodded, and realized how much that narrowed my options.

"Okay…Moraphine, then," She smiled in relief, and walked over to my side, smiling at me as she did so.

There was an awkward silence.

"Well, boys – and Moraphine – it's been a pleasure camping with you. Stay in touch all…" Toby sang as he hailed the first cab, and leaped inside.

After that, two more cabs came almost simultaneously. Helix and Zane claimed those, saying their goodbyes. Finally, Brock waved at us, and departed silently, leaving Moraphine and me alone.

We sat on the curb outside of the lonely station – which looked abandoned – and waited for the latest cab. I was thankful that Moraphine was there, or else it would have been really creepy. Hanging out around an abandoned gas station in the middle of nowhere didn't sound like a fun way to spend a Saturday night…

Soon enough, though, a cab sped down the road, and Moraphine and I hopped in.

And it seemed like _that_ was where my adventure began.

*****

**I'm exhausted! And I felt compelled to get something out this week, so…yeah. Sorry if it's bad. Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Am I the only one who feels compelled to write fanfiction when it's cloudy outside?**

Moraphine was out like a light almost as soon as we started speeding away. I had to admit I was kind of jealous, though, because I always struggled to fall asleep. Our elbows were smashed together due to the tiny size of the back seats. Being cramped-up like this only made my ADHD more unbearable, and I was surprised I hadn't woken Moraphine with my constant squirming.

As soon as we hit a bump in the dark, Moraphine's head teetered around a bit, and settled on the opposite side of its previous nest, landing it square on my shoulder. Normally I would've been embarrassed, but Moraphine was a very heavy sleeper, and I figured she probably couldn't help it. I couldn't see the driver very well, and the only time he spoke to me was when he asked us where we needed to go. I told to keep driving south, and take us as far as we could for two-hundred dollars. Part of me wanted to play with my new wallet, because I figured Helix had loaded it with drakmas and nectar and ambrosia, but it was too dark to even see my hand in front of my face. I just decided to settle down, and try to sleep. It was a shame that my right arm already _was_ asleep.

Soon enough, I fell asleep to the hum of the engine. As I slept, I was listening to the low sound of the radio in the front seat. Or at least I thought I did…

Eventually, though, the repeating lyrics turned into the squabbling of two voices. As soon as I opened my eyes, I found myself inside of Hades' dorm once again. This time, though, Persephone wasn't there.

The hooded figure was bowing down to Hades, who looked even more dark and depressed than before (if that's even possible).

"Good," Hades droned, staring blankly at his dark kingdom. The main entrance was being guarded by three skeletons – one in Spartan warrior armor holding a spear, another in vintage World War II uniform polishing an M-16, and one in tan camouflage fiddling with a shiny machine gun. It seemed like they hadn't noticed me standing inside, and I suppose that was a good thing. I wasn't quite sure what Hades was talking about that was "good".

"Yes, my lord. Your army shall be complete by the end of the summer. My recruits are working around the clock to-…"

"I get it," Hades complained, stomping his dark red bident on the ground. The robed figure immediately stopped talking – his hands shaking. "Now return to your previous position, and inform me when the invasion begins."

"Y-y-yes my l-lord," The robed figure stuttered in response. As he stood, he appeared to be taller than me. I figured that it was one of Hades' dead servants, but it still sounded uncannily familiar. Did I know anyone who died recently?

Hades stomped his bident harder, sending dark ripples across my vision, and suddenly I found myself listening to hip-hop music once again.

"Cade?" Someone cooed. "Cade? Cadey?"

I instantly flicked my eyes open, and looked around. The sun had risen out the window, and it appeared to be early morning. Moraphine no longer rested on my shoulder, and she was looking at me with a worried look on her face.

"Cadey? Gee, that's refreshing," I grumbled settling back down. I could tell Moraphine was rolling her eyes.

"You were saying something about invasions in your sleep," She continued. "Nightmares?"

"You could say that…" I said, debating whether or not I should tell Moraphine about Hades' Army and his Invasion.

"What happened?" She said, smiling. "I _am _an expert about dreams ya' know." I looked up at her. Her icy blue eyes seemed bright and happy.

"Well…" I began, not knowing how to explain it. I looked up to make sure our driver was occupied.

"Actually…I think it was fake. Just…random, you know? It's silly…" I lied, not wanting to panic her just yet.

I thought she would press me harder, but instead she shrugged (the best she could) and said, "Whatever."

After that, the taxi pulled into a gas station, and we were able to use the restroom. He said we were somewhere in southern New Jersey, nearing Delaware. He also explained that he didn't have an exact pay-rate, so he'd take us into Delaware, and drop us off there.

I thought that was a great deal, especially since my original plan had us dropped-off in mid-Jersey. We thanked him, and clambered back in. I wasn't looking forward to another couple hours in that cramped car, but it would be nice to make-up some ground. Since there was two of use, Helix wanted us to cover more ground, telling us to cover some southern states like Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. I was pretty happy about that, too, since it would be nice to visit Florida. I'd never really been there before, so it would be pretty fun.

_Don't forget about your job… _I reminded myself.

Moraphine and I watched in silence as the green country-side rolled past. My stomach was growling, telling me that I needed some breakfast. I told it to shut up.

After a while, I stopped watching out the window, and looked to my right, where Moraphine was doodling on some scratch paper. I tried looking over her shoulder, but instead, she looked over at me.

"Yes?" She asked. I blinked once.

"Uh…whatcha' drawing?"

She looked at her paper. "Oh, just a dream I had last night. I'm kind of a crappy artist…" She held up her drawing for me to see.

To me it looked like a goat on steroids buying some pancakes at an old Denny's.

"Um…nice goat," I commented, trying to build conversation. "What did you have to eat before bed?"

She sighed, and pulled her notebook back to her lap to continue drawing.

"What?" I asked.

She didn't look up at me, but she spoke, "Don't take this too lightly. You do know what my father is known for doing in ancient myths, correct?"

I nodded. "Warning kings about wars and stuff, right? Through their dreams?"

"Yep," she said, "Now tell me: who do you think these two are?"

She held up her notebook again. The goat-yeti was still buying some pancakes, but in its free hand, it held two kids by the throat. One had yellow hair, and the other had red hair. They yellow-haired-one was holding something curved and shiny…

"Oh…" I concluded lamely, right as we passed a sign that read 'Welcome to Delaware! The Blue Hen State'.

"Okay, guys," the driver interrupted, flicking on his blinker, and swerving into a truck rest stop. "This is as far as I can take you, and I need to go lay down…"

I simply nodded, suddenly finding myself looking over my shoulders to see if yeti-goats were about crawl out and attack us. Naturally, the first thing I saw was an old Denny's restaurant crowded with groggy truck drivers. I looked desperately at Moraphine, who ripped out her picture, and folded it away into her pocket.

"So…I need to be paid. $200, please…" The driver pressed holding out his hands. His brown eyes were swelled with heavy bags, and his red flannel shirt looked oily and dirty.

I reached for my new wallet, and brushed my thumb over the owl. It instantly grew into a large leather pouch, complete with pockets stuffed full of goods.

At first I was shocked. There was a lot more than just drakmas and god-food in there...

I hurriedly snatched a two of the bills from the money pouch. Helix told me that there were five-hundred mortal dollars that I needed to spend wisely, but that seemed like a minor detail. I momentarily forgot about the evil yeti and started running through the assorted objects in the pouch.

There was a Ziploc bag of drakmas, and another bag full of ambrosia. There was an eco-friendly canteen sloshing with nectar, and a small plastic flip camera. There was a note in the same pouch as a bunch of small pictures.

I stuck the note in my pocket – promising myself to read it later – and continued snuffing around the wallet. The driver had left, and Moraphine was standing outside waiting for me.

"Come on, Cade, we're wasting our time…" She said nervously, looking around the area.

I snapped out of my trance, and closed the pouch, shoving it back into my pocket.

We wandered around the area, looking for anywhere else to eat than Denny's, but my will power was broken instantly when I read that today's special was pancakes and hash-browns.

"We aren't going in," Moraphine stressed. "I'd rather eat breakfast than be eaten _for_ breakfast."

She had a point, I realized. Still I felt compelled to argue.

"How about we go in, order our food to-go, and get as far away from here as possible?" I pondered. "Look, there's no line."

She peeked inside, and turned back to me. "I think the picture was clear enough…"

My stomach growled as loud as the semi-truck that passed behind us. I looked at her desperately.

She looked away, and rubbed her stomach. "Fine!" She exclaimed finally. "But if we get eaten, I'm _so_ blaming it on you…"

I smiled, and led the way inside.

*****

Our breakfast-rush seemed to be going smoothly. We hustled in, and avoided any direct contact with the truckers that were giving us funny looks. I figured we probably didn't look old enough to drive.

We hopped in line, and there was only one person ahead of use. He was wearing a white hat that read 'I left my Athol in Idaho', and a red flannel jacket similar to our cab-driver. He had a dark scruffy goatee, and he was easily 6-foot tall. I was scared that he might be our attacker, but luckily, he grabbed his tray of food and left, without giving us a second glance. Carefully we both stepped up.

We were both quiet, but I elbowed Moraphine as if telling her _Ladies First!_

"Um…I'll take the number 6…" She started, while I watched behind us. Eventually, there was a pause in her voice, and the teenaged girl tending the stand asked me what I wanted.

"Um…the special, please," I asked a little too fast. She wrote down our orders, and punched some buttons on the cash register.

"The total will be…$22.96…" She said. I swiftly reached for my wallet, but Moraphine stopped me, and handed the waitress a bill.

"You paid for the cab, I got the food…" She whispered in my ear. The waitress looked surprised to see that Moraphine handed her a one-hundred dollar bill.

We scurried off to the side, and watched door expectantly. I felt my hand creeping towards my pocket, when suddenly:

_Ding-a-ling_

The bell on the door chimed, and a man with a stained white shirt, jeans, and leather boot walked in. He wasn't wearing anything on his head, which was covered in scruffy, buzzed brown hair. His side-burns stretched down his face and into his think beard, and his pale green eyes, glared menacingly around the room. He was taller than the man in line before us, and more muscular.

He stopped, and sniffed the air quickly/ He froze and looked around wildly, his veins growing out of his skin.

"_Di immortales!" _Moraphine cursed, as the man came to the counter. We both backed farther along the waiting able, and watched him speak to the waitress.

"C-c-can I g-get your order?" She asked, cowering a little at the shaggy, hulking man.

"That's sir, to you," He growled in a deep voice.

"Sir…" She added.

"You haven't happened to see two children running around, have you?" He growled. I heard the sound of crumpling paper as a gangly teenage dropped a heavy bag near us.

"Come again," he added boredly. Yeah, if there's still a restaurant here when we leave…

The waitress glanced over at us, and raised a wobbly arm to point at us. My heart skipped a beat as the man glared at us, smiling an orange-toothed grin.

Suddenly, all in one motion, the man sprouted more scruffy dark fur, and fangs, and he leaped at us over a tray of drinks and condiments. Moraphine ducked, and I stuffed whatever it was I fealt in the bag into my pockets.

There was a loud crash and a growl, and a few of the men screamed and ran towards the nearest exit. I fumbled around with the Dawn Treader, but managed to rip out the curved blade with a mighty '_Shing_', and hold it menacingly towards the monster. Moraphine simply closed her eyes as if to take a quick snooze before the battle.

I was about to wake her up, but the yeti beast lunged for us, knocking over a few more tables as he did so. I side-stepped, and started circling my blade to build momentum. The monster slammed into the counter, and reached a clawed paw at Moraphine.

Without thinking out a plan, I dove at the monster, swiping my blade across his gigantic shoulders. He growled in pain, and attempted to ram me with his bare head.

I tried to imitate a move I saw off of 'The Matrix', but I ended up falling to my back and being skewered by one of his claws.

I leaped to my feet, and watched as the yeti spun around again. The whole place was cleared out now, but that seemed like a minor detail.

We locked eyes, only his had bags under them, and he was breathing heavily. He attempted to tackle me again, but I ducked, and jabbed in the air with my sword. He sailed lamely over my head, and tripped on his own feet once I stabbed him. He wailed in pain, thumping uselessly at the ground, until his eyelids closed. I dove onto his furry, stomach, and slit his throat with my sword. Golden dust started to evaporate from the final wound. I guess he died peacefully…

Moraphine re-opened her eyes, but the bright happy glint I saw earlier was replaced with drowsiness. That was when I remembered her sleeping powers that she used against Helix.

"Th-thanks for saving me," She said, rubbing her temples.

"No problem. Thanks for putting him down for a nap…"

I took her hand, and helped her up, which would have seemed embarrassing in a normal situation, but it looked like someone was pounding a boulder against her head.

The lodge looked like a tornado had ripped through it, and it was totally empty. A few of the ceiling lights dangled by their wired over our heads, and one of the painted glass windows had been smashed by a table. The soda machine the Moraphine hid under was spouting Sprite, and I had the odd sensation of syrup dripping down my leg…

We walked out of the restaurant casually, ignoring the panicked looks of the mortal truckers. I imagined that our faces must have been covered in grime, but I really didn't care.

I helped Moraphine over to a bench in the back of the stop, where we reclined for a bit, sharing bits of pancake and pocket lint. I didn't expect Moraphine to speak, but she finally built the energy to ask, "How much do you know about driving?"

It took me off-guard, but still I answered, "Pretty well. My grandfather owned a lube store back in Idaho, and I hung out there a lot in the summers before I came to c-camp." I choked a little when I said 'camp'.

She just nodded. "Well thank Hermes…" She muttered, reaching around my back. At first I was a little alarmed, but she quickly retreated with my wallet in her hand.

"Er…sorry…here," She mumbled, digging around my wallet until she pulled out a small plastic card.

I took it from her, and examined it. Police sirens were blaring in the background, but I figured we were safe as long as we stayed in the back. It looked like a surreal New York driver's license, completed with a picture of me on the climbing wall, only edited to make it seem like it was my ID picture. It was etched with information about me along the sides, and it was stamped with a winged sandal on the back.

"What…how…" I started, but Moraphine stopped me.

"Helix's father is our biggest supporter," She stated simply.

We walked around to the front, attempting to find our yeti-attackers vehicle. We dodged policemen and any of the men we recognized from the diner. I figured it would take all day to look inside of every semi-truck, and find the one with keys still in it, but I was almost positive we found the right truck when I spotted the license 'HUNGRY4U'.

I had to admit that I was a little scared to drive a semi-truck around, especially since it would be the first real driving experience I'd ever had, but I was even more worried about how easily Moraphine trusted me to drive. Lucky for us, though, he didn't drive a semi. His small Chevrolet Silverado was painted with flames, and had red fuzzy dice on the mirror. The seats were lined with orange shams, and the bed was filled with goat-feed.

After making sure no police were spying on us, I hopped into the driver's seat, using one of the goat-feed bags to heighten myself where I sat.

I took a deep breath, and turned the little silver key all the way forward. The engine roared to life, and a gust of thick smoke puffed out of the exhaust pipe. I took one last reassuring glance at Moraphine, and began praying to the gods for our safety.

*****

**Was this chapter any good? I think the cloudy weather does something to my writing skill or something. Interesting…Anyways, I know it seems unlikely that a fourteen-year-old is driving, but I'll explain in the next chapter. Review! Please! I'm a mega-review-a-holic!**

**A/N – I do not own the Denny's franchise, nor do I own the Chevy Silverado brand-line. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Well…my writing may not be as good because there's not a cloud in the sky, but I'll do my best.**

I took every ounce of my small attention-span to stay concentrated on driving. The fact that goat food was shoved halfway up my rear end, and that Moraphine was making elephants sounds in her sleep wasn't helping too much, either. Luckily, the road we were driving on was nearly empty.

Moraphine had been snoozing most of the drive. I wasn't sure what she was dreaming about (secretly, I was hoping it wasn't about more yetis attacking) but she was clearly troubled by something. I could see it in on her weary face. She wore a tight grimace, and her eyebrows were narrowed. Not even the music on the radio, or the constant gas-stops could wake her.

Night fell over our lonely road almost as soon as we sped into Virginia. There weren't a lot of clouds, so the full moon provided plenty of lights. We barely needed our own headlights – but we couldn't exactly risk getting pulled over. I'd probably implode under pressure, and Moraphine wouldn't even wake up to give me back-up.

Virginia looked almost like a new country compared to Maryland and Delaware. Of course, I couldn't see it very well in the night, but there weren't as many tall trees and buildings. It almost killed me to drive right past Washington D.C., and not stop to look at the landscaping, but I knew we were on a tight schedule.

During one of our gas stops, I took a minute to browse over the radio stations in the area. I stopped on one that played good rock music, and listened to it quietly while I drove. Suddenly, a familiar song rang in my ears quietly. Instinctively, I reached down and turned the music up a little louder. Moraphine could sleep through a thousand cheering Raiders fans, so I figured a little loud music wouldn't kill her.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers were my all-time favorite band. Tamara didn't like me playing music very loud in my room, but I still managed to smuggle a few Red Hot Chili peppers albums home, and listened to them after she went to bed.

The song Scar Tissue was one of my favorites. I still wasn't sure what the lyrics meant, but the instrumental tied the song together perfectly. Hearing that song on the radio after five years at Camp almost made cry with happiness. I took one last glance at Moraphine, and started singing along quietly to it.

"…soft spoken with broken jaw, step outside but not to brawl, autumn's sweet we call it fall, and I'll make it to the moon if I have to crawl 'cause – with the birds I sh–…"

Suddenly I heard a giggling sound off to my right. I snapped my head sideways, only to discover that Moraphine had awoken somewhere along the lines. She wasn't sitting up straight, but her icy blue eyes were wide awake again, and she had big grin on her face. Some of the color started rising to my cheeks while she laughed, when all of a sudden, there was a loud honking sound ahead of us. I snapped out of my embarrassed trance, and swiftly yanked the leather steering wheel back to the right. A large gust of forceful wind tackled our truck as a semi bumbled past us at seventy-five miles per hour. I gasped, and turned the wheel back left before I drove the truck right off the road and into a tree. With a couple sturdying pulls of the wheel, our car was back on track, going about ten miles under the speed limit.

I regained my breath right as my song ended. I quickly lowered the volume to a mute, and turned back to Moraphine, making sure to keep an eye on the road at all costs this time.

She was breathing heavily, glaring at me. "What the Hades?!" She yelled.

"I blame you for letting me drive…" I muttered in response. She huffed, and looked back out her window. "Why did you want me to drive, anyways?"

Without looking back at me, she answered, "Your mother's the biological creator of vehicles. Driving of all sorts – unless you're driving a plane – should come pretty easily to you. It's supposed to be in your blood…"

I looked back at the road. I guess I never really realized how lucky I was to have Athena as my mother.

"How are we on gas?" She asked me, pushing thoughts of my near-wreck into the back of her head. I glanced at the guage. Our last fill-up was a couple of hours ago.

"Um…getting lower," I reported, "But I think we can make it to hotel or something, first."

She shook her head. "Get into the city, and find an empty gas station. We really need to contact Helix before bed."

"Why not just do it at the hotel?" I wondered out loud.

"We need to talk to him as soon as possible. It's almost midnight, and he probably won't be up too much later."

As if on cue, a tall green sign entered the vision of our headlights. To me it looked like 'FDER KSCUB URG 04 MLI ES' but I knew from history class at Camp that it probably said 'Fredericksburg –40 Miles'. I racked my brain to try and remember what was so special about the town…

The dark countryside tumbled past our dirty windows, and more and more building started to come into view. Moraphine managed to stay awake, and surprisingly never took out her sketch pad. I wanted to ask her what she was dreaming about, but I figured she'd tell me if she wanted to talk about it. Eventually, though, I couldn't stand the silence.

"Um…" I started geniusly, "I noticed our face looked kind of messed-up while you were sleeping," She looked away from her window, and gave me a funny look. "As if you were dreaming," I added quickly.

"…you were looking at me while I slept?" She interrogated.

"Well…" I started, thinking of the right words to use.

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Yes I was dreaming, but it was nothing. Really, don't worry about it…"

I still wasn't totally sold, but she continued. "It's not like my dad is going to give me a warning every time a fall asleep. Sometimes I just have to keep myself safe. He doesn't have time to visit me every night…"

"Okay, but still…" I pressed.

"It's _nothing, _okay?"

I just nodded, and looked back at the road. Some lights were starting to pop-up in the distance, and I just decided to drop the subject. My eyelids were starting to droop, so I was relieved to go to sleep after a long day of near-death experiences.

*****

Finally, we pulled our old Silverado into an empty Chevron with buzzing light. There was a gang of various bugs tackling the old yellow lights repeatedly, and the lot was decorated with gas-stains, asphalt cracks, and several different food wrappers. The town wasn't bad for a large city, but it still had a small layer of smog, and tall buildings. There were plenty of parks commemorating the Civil War, which reminded where I'd heard of the city's name before. There weren't as many gangs lurking in all the brick alleys as there was In New York, but there was still a creepy, unfamiliar feel to the place.

Moraphine offered to pay for this round of gas, and our hotel rooms and I didn't protest. I only had about one-hundred and fifty dollars left, but it was kind of worth spending it to make down south safely. Moraphine explained that most of our traveling down there would be on foot, and that we only needed money to pay for cheap places to sleep, and food, too.

When Moraphine came out of the store, she tossed me a bag of Fritos, which I devoured in seconds while the gas filled. I had watched enough TV to know how to fill up a gas tank properly, so it wasn't too big of a challenge.

When we finished our chips, we took the truck around to the back of the station, where there was a self-car wash. Moraphine placed a dollar bill into the machine, and grabbed the spray-nozzle. I fished out my wallet, and tried locating a drakma. After minutes of zipping and un-zipping pockets, I managed to get a hold of one, and tossed it into the water.

"O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering…" I stated, listening for a non-existent response. At first I thought she might have noticed that the drakma was fake, but the view in the water became fuzzy. "Helix, Northeastern U.S.A."

The screen sparkled for a minute, and the scene shifted to a familiar person, un-rolling a sleeping bag.

"Helix?" I asked. He turned around, and spotted us.

"Oh!" He said happily, leaving his sleeping bag, and turning his body to face us. "I was getting worried, you guys didn't check in…" He smiled.

I found myself smiling too. It felt good to see Helix again, even if it wasn't exactly face-to-face. "Yeah. It's been a long day…"

"Oh yeah? Where's Moraphine?" He asked. Moraphine stuck out her hand, and waved at Helix.

"Sorry!" She called. "I'm holding the water…"

"Okay, just checking. So what happened?"

I quickly glanced up at Moraphine, and began conveying all of the details about the old Denny's at the truck-stop, and the truck we jacked. I even managed to tell him about my near-accident. He listened the whole time, and nodded when there was a pause in my voice.

"Do you know what the monster was, though?" I finished, realizing that our timer only had a minute left. He thought for a minute.

"Not off the top of my head, but I'll get back to you about it. Contact again tomorrow and the current Rendezvous Point is the Statue of Liberty.

I nodded, right as the image started fading. "Bye, Helix. Don't get eaten by anything…"

He winked. "Likewise, kid. See ya'."

The image faded, and the water stopped. Moraphine quietly put away the hose, and started rubbing her arms. Both of us walked back to the truck, and hopped back in.

As we pulled out, the owner of the Chevron walked out from behind the counter, and watched our truck leave his lot. I could see him clearly in my rearview mirror, and he had a snide look on his face. I drove away quickly, not wasting another minute.

*****

The nearest Holiday Inn Express had some cheap rates that we figured couldn't be beat. We parked our truck in the back, away from any by-passer's line of vision, and walked casually into the lobby. It looked clean and modern (for a change) and was nearly empty except for a kid in his early twenties with curly red hair reading a magazine. He was wearing a blue concierge shirt, and looked surprised to see us come in so late. Moraphine clopped up to the desk, her feet making an echoing sound when she walked on the shiny tan tile.

I examined the empty lobby a little closer. There were two black leather couches in front of a fire in the back corner. There was also a large flat-screen TV hanging on one of the walls, quietly showing the local news. Originally, I didn't pay much attention to the news, but something caught my eye.

"…Rusty's Truck Stop robbery. Early this morning, at this Delaware truck stop, something unexplainable occurred. We have word that two children and their father were culprits of an explosion caused at the nearby Denny's breakfast. We have exclusive video footage of two teenaged kids walking in to the store, and failing to exit when every one else did."

They rolled some fuzzy black and white tape of Moraphine and me walking in though the doors quickly. Not too long later, our yeti friend blundered in as well, and not too long later, there was a sudden commotion in the background. Chairs and tables went flying, and burly men spilled their coffee and ran like a pack of centaurs were after them. There was some bustling around in the background.

The tape ended and the reporter continued, "Soon after the explosion, the two children stole their father's car, and drove away from the scene before interrogation."

They showed the fuzzy image of us walking in through the doors one last time, and changed to a new story about a local sports team.

Moraphine was staring wide-eyed at the television, with a card in her hand. I glanced worriedly at the kid behind the desk, but he was occupied with his magazine.

I grabbed Moraphine's arm, and sped down the hallway.

Our room wasn't bad. Moraphine got it for just under forty dollars, and it still looked fine to me. There was one twin bed in the back, and a small couch. One closet and a tiny bathroom lined the green hallway that led to the living room/bedroom, and there wasn't a TV. The only thing I was worried about was the morning edition of the news…

"There's only one bed…" I noted. Moraphine nodded.

"That means you get to sleep on the couch."

She walked over, and flopped onto the bed; dropping her backpack onto the ground next to her. I frowned, and walked over to the brown, soft loveseat. I'd had enough of sleeping on couches lately…

"Well since you get the bed, I get the first shower," I called to her quickly, snatching my other change of clothes out of my bag.

She nodded, and re-adjusted her position so she could stare at the ceiling.

I walked to the bathroom, walking tenderly on my right foot – the one I'd been using all day. I closed the door behind me, and started running bathwater. There was something about running bathwater that made me happy. It just made me feel free and private – like I could do whatever I wanted to do, and no one would care.

After I showered, and got a large paper cup filled with cool water, I kicked my dirty clothes into the corner, and walked out. Moraphine seemed not to have noticed me, and she was staring at the ceiling dreamily, with a happy, careless look in her eyes. She had a dreamy expression on her face, and I couldn't help but smile a little.

"Your turn," I said quietly, tossing one of my dirty socks at her. She jumped, and sat bolt upright. I laughed, dove onto the couch.

I thought sleep would come easily, listening to the running water in the bathroom, but I lay there awake. Eventually, Moraphine came out, and slid into her bed through the darkness.

"Hey Moraphine?" I asked. I could almost make the outline of her icy eyes in the darkness.

"Yeah, Cade?" She responded.

"What do you think will happen to us? I mean, now that the mortal police want us…"

"Don't worry, dude. The police will think of an excuse not to continue searching for us eventually…"

I nodded, even though I knew she couldn't see me. "Hey Moraphine?" I asked again.

"What?"

"Nah, I'll tell you in the morning."

I could almost feel her rolling her eyes. I laughed to myself happily, and finally started drifting away to sleep.

"Goodnight…" I moaned sleepily.

"Goodnight, choir-of-a-thousand-walruses."

And oddly enough, that was what sent me to sleep.

*****

**Ridin' on down to Florida. Sweet, monster attacks and more in the next chapter! Stick around for it! Don't expect it tomorrow, though, I'll be working for my grandma…**

**REVIEW, PLEASE! I'm a huge review junky, and even though this chapter was mostly filler, I want to know I still have reason to continue! I'm totally expecting a flame from 'sonofdemeter' just because we have a bad history. Watch, he probably won't even have reason to flame!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Um…New chapter? Sorry I haven't updated. It doesn't feel right to write unless it's cloudy outside. And it doesn't feel right to write without an A/N at the beginning, so carry on!**

When I finally woke up, I found myself sprawled out on the floor next the plush leather couch, hugging my pillow like a teddy bear. From somewhere behind me, Moraphine was snoring like a bull elephant on tranquilizer pills. That wasn't what woke me up though.

There was a humid, stingy smell that haunted the room. I took a big whiff, and choked a little. It was like someone just egged our door with rotten Grade-A's, and cleaned it off with an angry skunk.

I wobbly stood up, and re-positioned my pillow and itchy wool blanket. I didn't exactly get the greatest night's sleep, but I wasn't bothered by any more creepy dreams about Hades.

While Moraphine was still asleep, I took another shower (just because I had the feeling I wouldn't get the opportunity for a while), and changed into the last clean outfit I had. Some old torn denim shorts and an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt.

When I stepped back into our crowded main dorm, Moraphine was sitting bolt upright in bed, with wide eyes. I figured the first thing she would say would be about the grotesque smell, but instead she said, "Pigs!"

I stared at her for moment. Before I could respond, though, she lunged to her knapsack, and fumbled around with her belongings until she reeled out her notebook. She thumbed through some pages, until she found a blank one, and started etching with her pencil.

"Did you…get another warning from your father?" I guessed, trying to break the un-easy silence.

She nodded, and continued scribbling on her notebook. I decided to take a seat on my couch while she drew, and watched her from there. It almost seemed like she wasn't blinking, until her focus snapped, and she threw me her notebook.

Upon first glance, it looked like a blob with big fangs and a tail ramming large boat, but after staring at it for a few moments, it came clear to me.

It was a masculine boar with long, sharp fangs, and it looked ready to charge a matador.

"Cool," I grumbled sarcastically, "All we need are Apollo's sacred cows, and we can open up our very own petting zoo."

"It's _not _funny!' Moraphine stressed, taking back her notebook. "We need to get out of here and quick!"

I was about to ask why, until I realized something. The rancid stench in our room wasn't the sum of a poorly issued prank, but the smell a monster would give off. I'd heard stuff about the smell from classes back at Camp, but I'd never actually experienced it. Not even back at the Terminated Denny's.

"Oh," I managed to say, instinctively piling all of my things into my bag, and charging out of the door.

*****

We elected to take the fire exit and risk getting in trouble, because I was sure some guests were watching the morning news while enjoying their free continental breakfast. Luck was on our side, though, and we managed to slink over to the truck without any interference.

The air was still damp with the smell, and Moraphine kept commenting about how the smell was a lot stronger than most of the monster stenches she'd ever experienced. I took that as a bad sign, and roared the engine to life.

We reared down the street at about five miles over the speed limit. I didn't exactly plan out my driving route ahead of time, so we were sailing listlessly to the east, checking our rearview mirrors every few seconds, as though expecting demon-pigs to come barreling out of every alley-way. I reminded myself to keep an eye on the road.

At one point, the tall buildings began to get smaller, and more natural scenery started lining our road. The sun was high in the sky, even though dark grey storm clouds were brewing in the distance. Our windows were rolled all the way down, and a hot summer breeze was blasting through. Moraphine's curly red hair was dangling rapidly behind her in the sudden breeze, and she was forced to put on her brown leather cap.

Finally we exited onto the east-bound highway, which was totally empty except for a large semi-truck ahead of us. The stench had temporarily disappeared, which calmed us down a whole lot. Green pine trees and yellow sun-stones rose around us, and our road started winding around a golden hill, dotted with shrubs. It would've been a peaceful ride if it weren't for the fact we were trying to escape from a monster.

Eventually, as soon as our gas meter stopped at the halfway mark, the large truck ahead of us slowed down, and the large thunderheads in the distance devoured the sun. Cars on the opposite lane started trucking back West, hauling large boats. My heart started racing a little as the sky grew darker around us, because large boats were the second item in Moraphine's dream. Moraphine's eye narrowed a little, as she breathed in through her nose.

I followed her example, and almost automatically regretted it.

The mixture of rain and pine and something else danced around my nostrils. It was the same stench we experienced earlier that day. It had found us again.

"_Di Immortales…_" I muttered, speeding up the engine a little. The semi truck ahead of us was going at least ten miles under the limit, though, as we wound around another hill.

There was a sudden 'BOOM' sound from somewhere in the distance that almost made me jump so hard, I bonked my head on the roof of the car.

"What was that?" Moraphine asked, starting to breathe harder. By now, the dark grey clouds had completely vacuumed up the blue sky, and all of the four-runners hauling boats had passed.

"Probably just thunder…" I said, trying more to re-assure myself than re-assure Moraphine. "See? Look it's starting to rain…"

Little drops of wet rain started taping on our hood. I played around with a few buttons until I found the windshield wipers, turning off the radio as I did so.

_BOOM_

The rain started getting harder, and pieces of hail the size of Gobstoppers started bashing the hood of our car. I made the wipers go a little harder.

_BOOM_

The truck in front of us slowed even more, and creaked loudly, making it sound like a beached orca. I found myself consciously slowing my own breathing, and my right hand crept down towards my pocket where I kept the Dawn Treader. Moraphine swiftly rolled up our windows.

The hills around us got a little steeper, and we started to ascend while the rain got harder still. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Moraphine use the sleeve of her shirt to wipe a hole through the fog and glance outside into the gloomy weather.

"Cade…look…" She gasped. I quickly glanced out of her window, and discovered a giant body of water, with reckless waves pounding the boulders below our rode. There was a warped wooden sign that we passed that read '_PESCHAKEE YBA' _and then some smaller words I couldn't make out. There were some wave designs splashed on there too.

My basic geography skills paid off, I realized. If it weren't for that, I may have never even realized we were driving on a steep ledge over-looking the largest bay in the United States. The Chesapeake Bay lingered below us, crashing its mighty waves against the ledge as we ascended higher.

_BOOM!_

The rain itself crashed upon us like a wave on its own, and my hands shakily steered the truck back on course. Large bodies of water (minus the coast and the lake at Camp) had ever settled with me well because my mother Athena had a great rivalry with the sea god, Poseidon.

Of course, Moraphine showing me that we were looming above the greatest Bay in the world in the middle of a storm probably wasn't the smartest thing she'd ever done.

_BOOOOOOM!_

I ducked in fear as my ears played a shrill ringing. This boom sounded as close as right next to us – or even…right in front of us. I peered over the steering wheel in fright, and watched the old truck squeal with effort, and dent uselessly. It sailed uselessly sideways across both lanes and crushed into the cliff beside us, its freight knocking the garter beside clean out of its socket. There was another loud boom, and an orange mushroom cloud hovered above the wasted truck. I swerved to the left, only to find my car sliding on top of the water, spinning in a heavy circle towards the crushed semi.

With a mighty _THUNK, _the flaming back gates to the cargo bed swung open. All in one instance, a large black shape squee'd in victory, and reared out of the bed, while the bed of our truck slammed into the massive destruction ahead of us. My head made a whiplash motion, causing my vision to go fuzzy for a moment. Moraphine's side wasn't as badly affected, but her eyes were as wide as an owl's.

"…pig…" She breathed. I dazedly spun my head around until I tracked some movement to the left.

"Come on!" I shouted, shaking off the pain, and lunging out of the car and into the flaming storm. Mudflaps, goat feed, and 'How's my driving?' signs were flying everywhere.

Moraphine grabbed my hand – which might have embarrassed me if we weren't being tracked by a giant boar – and followed my gaze around the site.

Due to the dim orange flames caused by the semi, I could almost clearly see the monster guarding our path, sneering in anger.

It was at least the size of our truck, and covered sickly russet fur. It had a blood red streak across its muzzle, and down its side, and long, blood-stained tusks that could probably shish-ke-bob the U.S. Army. It had soulless yet angry red eyes with no pupils, and poorly cleaned hooves that were chipped with spikes. Its tail swished menacingly over the edge, while tall black waves crashed below.

I let go of Moraphine's hand, and unleashed the Dawn Treader's blade with a fiery 'Shing'.

"REEE! REEEET!" It howled. I glanced at Moraphine to see if she was using her secret sleeping-power, and sure enough, she had her eyes closed, and she was rubbing her temples.

I placed a massive hoof forward. I held up my sword menacingly.

"Any luck?!" I yelled at her.

"…no! This thing is radiating with godly power…" She screamed.

That's when it all came to me.

When I learned about Fredericksburg in World Studies, we were discussing the Civil War. The city was lost by the Confederates, therefore making it a city lost in war. Making it Ares' territory.

Apparently, the war god himself was too lazy to watch over the city himself, so he sent his big old pet boar to do the job itself. But why was it in the bed of a semi truck going towards the Bay?

"That means we're going to have to this the hard way…" I muttered. As if on cue, the giant boar reared its back hooves, and charged at us blindly with its tusks.

I leaped to the right, while Moraphine tumbled to the left, and it crashed into the wreckage behind us. When it stumbled back to its paws, it glanced in Moraphine's direction, and got ready to charge again.

"Hey! Bacon breath! Yeah you! Over here!" I yelled at it. It turned its head at me, his red eyes glowing in rage, and turned tail on me.

Part of me wanted to run right off the edge, and let Poseidon have his way with me, but I stood my ground, and started waving around the Dawn Treader in a circle to build momentum.

"REE!" It squealed, attempting to head-butt me. I slashed my sword down on its head, and chopped of a giant lock of fur, as it brushed by my side, making me do aerials across the rode. It snorted in victory, and toddled back to Moraphine.

With a huff, I flopped back onto my feet. "Why did the piggy cross the street?" I shouted at him.

"Cade!" Moraphine screamed, picking up a 'How's my driving?' sign off the ground. "Now's not the time for bad jokes!"

"To be ham sandwiched!" I responded, charging dizzily at the boar. Moraphine chucked the sign like a Frisbee, and dove out of the way. It clattered into the boar's face, and he stumbled over a loose ignition pipe.

I took the blind opportunity to make a mad leap worthy of the Olympics, and spin my sword around in the air like a wild Native American. I cannon-balled onto the beast's back, and slashed at its burly body. It Grunted in pain, and kicked me off like a mule.

I tumbled around worthlessly into a torn bag of goat-feed, and looked up in a daze. Moraphine screamed, and ducked, uselessly trying to make the beast take a nap. She fell flat on the ground, and the beast trampled over her, missing her body by mere inches.

I attempted to stand again, only to fall back over, but eventually regained my balance. When the boar saw me, it instantly gave up on me, and looked at me with hate. I started spinning my sword again, as it clopped over to me at top speeds. I let out a battle cry, and skirted to the left, jabbing my sword through the sky like a baseball bat at the charging monster's scarred face.

I heard the sound of scissors cutting through construction paper, and looked at my feet, where a blood drenched tusk was rolling around in an arch.

The boar was cried out in pain, and ran around in a wild circle, shaking his head like a wet dog. It turned boar-tail, and started freight training towards the edge of the Bay. With one final crash, it busted past the guard, and committed suicide right in front of everyone. Moraphine and I raced to the ledge (staying a few feet back, that is) and watched it flail uselessly toward the earth. It splashed to the bottom in one final heap of golden dust.

Sirens were blaring in the distance, and the rain was finally easing. The damp weather had taken care of the flaming semi, but our ride was smashed into a big pile of flame-painted steel. The red fuzzy dice were nowhere to be seen.

The last thing Moraphine and I needed to deal with was the police, so as soon as we heard sirens in the distance, we climbed over the wreckage, and jogged along the pier. As we climbed, I noticed a big colorful symbol burned along the side of the cargo. There was a raft splashing down a wave, and a muscular man smiling as though he was pleased for conquering the wave. Under it in old western letters it read: Chesapeake Rafting Adventures! Ahhhh yeeaaah!

The creepiest part about the old semi, though, wasn't the smiling dude on the emblem, but the fact that the driver's seat was totally empty. Not even a flaming skeleton, or a severed head.

I shook it off – figuring the driver had escaped before getting blown up or something. The storm had ebbed, disappearing with the godly boar. In the distance, there was a large dock and port, complete with a giant Marina. It looked high-class, and fancy. Way more than just an average ship docking area. There were granite docking ports, complete with statuettes of smiling sea creatures. The Marina was alight, and looked like a mini-replica of the Opera House in Sydney, Australia. The place looked like an abandoned mansion, complete with a giant cruise ship, with dark blue letters painted on the side that I couldn't read. All of the lights on the cruise were flickering, and there was some music playing, so I figured that this lowly port had probably just been loaded onto the cruise ship.

"The ship…" I heard Moraphine mumble.

"The what?" I asked, trying to take my eyes off of the glowing white port, with the fancy cruise ship.

"The ship! Cade, my dad sent me that dream last night, and this is the ship I saw!"

"...so what?" I wondered. "It's not like we can afford tickets."

She smiled at me. "Who said we needed tickets?"

My original plan was to board with the luggage. There were giant carts of suitcases being thrown into a back gate, and I guessed that if we hopped on the last two, and buried ourselves in suitcases and backpacks, the two employees might just toss us on.

On our way down, we stopped inside of the Marina, in hopes of getting some information about the ship, but it was empty inside. Muzak was playing through the low speakers, and there were isles after isles of ocean-themed knick-knacks and snacks. I was browsing over a few packs of Captain Grey-Beard's GoodFish brand crackers, when Moraphine summoned me from across the store.

"They have some brochures of the cruise!" She called up to me excitedly. I was hoping I didn't look as beaten as she did. "It says they make stops in Maryland, Chesapeake Bay, and Southern Florida!"

I stopped. "That's perfect…but…this is just too perfect. There's no way this could just be blind luck. Face it, a million-dollar cruise ship just happens to appear where we need it in the middle of nowhere, and it just happens to be going exactly where need to be?"

She froze and thought about it for a moment. I thought I'd totally talked her into different means of transportation, but still she fought. "Why would my dad send me a dream about the ship if he didn't want us to use it?" She protested.

I guess she had a point there. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to travel southward in luxury upon the biggest cruise ship I'd ever seen in my life, but then again, I'd had my fair share of monsters in the past week. I could still barely believe I was struggling to brave the Climbing Wall back at Camp one week ago, and now I was smuggling myself onto an abandoned high-class cruise ship into the south?

"Fine," I said, tallying up the pros and cons. "We'll sneak onto the ship, and we'll stay in hiding. More mortal police is the last thing I want to deal with. I can't stab them. But first, we need to contact Helix."

She smiled gratefully, and led the way out of the Marina, and onto the abandoned Port.

**Am I the only one who though it was a bit rushed? I planned to pack more into that chapter, but I couldn't, or it would be too long for a FF chapter. It took me all day to make this on! Questions about the boar, the mysterious cruise, and about Moraphine will be answered in the next chapter. REVIEW, PLEASE! REVIEEEEEW!!! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks for…all three reviews. Anyways, Claire – I know! I just prefer capitalizing, because, well, I don't know. It just looks better in my opinion. Ale –Okay! I'll slow it down this chapter. ONWARD!**

Luckily, seeing as it just rained, it wasn't too hard to find a place to contact Helix. Moraphine flipped a drakma into a puddle behind the Marina, and repeated the familiar oath. The screen went fuzzy, and shifted into a blurry image of Helix walking around the Statue of Liberty; I could feel my tense shoulders suddenly relax. This time, Helix didn't seem as frightened.

"Hey," I greeted him.

"Cade! Moraphine! Second one's to call today." He responded, wearing his favorite smile.

"Who was the first?" Moraphine asked him from the opposite angle I was standing.

"Toby. He's gotten himself into…a little bit of trouble down in Kentucky."

"What happened?" Moraphine and I asked automatically.

Helix laughed. "Sibling rivalry is what happened. This kid he found just happens to be his older half-brother."

I could clearly imagine Toby leading someone taller and brawnier than him across a corn field yelling, "Dad _so _made me better at guitar…"

Our screen went a little blurrier. "Um…sorry, Helix, we're getting bad reception." I noted.

Moraphine nodded. "And we're kind of in a hurry because we're about to board our ride to the south…"

Surprisingly enough, Helix didn't ask about our ride. I figured after years of constant escape-routes and improvising means of transportation, he didn't care too much. As long as nothing at us, he'd be cool.

"Oh. Well…I got some news from Chiron. Those two little kids you rescued, Cade; their dad claimed them." He quickly noted, seeing that our screen was getting blurrier.

"Who?" I asked. I couldn't help but feel a small connection to Erika and David.

"Asclepius, god of medicine an-…FFFFFB…" The screen suddenly looked like a television with no reception. A minute or so later, Helix's face popped back on. "Gotta' hurry, our session doesn't have much more time. Oh, I almost forgot! That furry thing that attacked you in the pancake house was called a Libyan Satyr. They're basically our friendly satyrs' distant relatives, who enjoy fresh meat…" _And Zamzows Goat Feed. _"…Just promise to watch your back. That thing's got plenty of relatives up north. No idea why it was truckin' Sou-…FFFFFFFFFFBY…"

We both stared at the screen blankly. "Can you hear me now?" I called.

Moraphine ran her foot through the puddle. "Iris Messaging…raising the bar…"

After we set our minds straight, we snuck over to the corner of the Marina, and watched the hulking boat bob up and down in the distance. There were some bright, flashing yellow lights on the main deck, and happy Hawaiian-ukulele music. The smell of bar-be-que from the captain's-quarter was pretty much the final component necessary in thoroughly convincing me to board the cruise.

There were two teenage boys with pale faces and wide eyes taking large carts of luggage across a granite dock, past a statuette of a smiling naiad, and into a chamber at the bottom of the boat. They were both wearing starch-stiff navy blue uniforms, and tall circular hats with a chin-strap that kept it stationary. They basically looked like smiling mannequins, only creepier. When they voyaged back into the luggage chamber, Moraphine and I jogged from our first hiding spot, and separated. We each dove behind a marble statuette.

My statue of a giant, smiling frog had a small crack beneath its flippers just big enough for me to look through, and watch the two courtesy concierges board luggage. Once they started dragging another cart away, Moraphine and I made our move. There were only three carts left, and we decided it would be safer if each of us took our own.

"You first!" I whispered over at her. She nodded, double-checked the chamber, and made a flying leap towards her cart. As soon as she landed, I took a deep breath, and followed her example – diving onto the cart behind her. Frantically, we started burying ourselves with brown leather suitcases, and cardboard packages. I was almost positive we were hidden well enough, but when the two boys grabbed Moraphine's cart, my heart skipped a beat.

"We see you two people hiding." The first one said. Neither of us moved a muscle. "There is no need to worry, though, we are adolescents. We enjoy mischief. Right Skynrd?"

"LOL," the one named Skynrd answered.

"That is right. When my long and enjoyable shift is over, I will use my cellular phone and communicate with my female-friend. We will dine at the delicious Whitewater Café." The first one stated robotically.

"OMG!" Skynrd replied. By now, I figured these two – no matter how weird – were on our side, so I risked poking my head out. Both had curly blonde hair, and pale, wide blue eyes. They both had nametags stitched on, and after a minute of scrunching my eyes, I made out the names 'Lynrd' and 'Skynrd'. They weren't the types of names I would expect a sane person to have. I noticed Moraphine poke her head out too, and give me a wild look.

Lynrd and Skynrd grabbed our two carts, and started hauling us across the deck, simultaneously explaining that they enjoyed making our acquaintance, and 'LOL'.

Eventually, they got around to parking our carts and a converter-belt, and left to go get the last cart. Moraphine and I took our free moment to split.

*****

I didn't feel very comfortable on a giant ship. Moraphine was telling me that the place was burning with magic, so I should worry more about monsters and less about my crazy cousin. We followed navy blue "You are here" signs, and discovered that we were on the second-to-last floor. The hall we were exploring was very claustrophobic, but it still had the air of a silver-seamed six star hotel. We figured the ship had already started moving, because the foghorn sounded every few minutes, making me jump every time.

We occasionally passed a few silver doors that were still cracked open. The door was so shiny I could clearly see my own reflection, but I didn't have the time to admire all of my own battle scars. Both of us were scared that a large, scary, fire-breathing monster would be waiting behind every cracked door, waiting for its prey…but all we found was a bunch of navy towels folded like a little dog, and little silver note card reminding us to enjoy our stay. Something was telling me that the captain liked the colors navy blue and silver…

We trekked down our dim hallway – still looking over our shoulders every few steps – but didn't get any distractions. Our plan was to make it to the top deck and see what was going on, and then settle down into hiding for the night, being sure not to give ourselves any unnecessary attention. Eventually, we made it to the end after what felt like hours, and used the fire escape staircase instead of the elevator. Partly because the loud muzak might have killed me before Poseidon and especially because we figured it would be swarmed with passengers.

That was a real mistake though. The freshly-waxed silver staircase was lined with thick glass windows, letting the cruisers view all of the underwater life. Fortunately, bubbles from our turbulence were blocking most of the view, but I was still shaking like a wet cat, and almost positive that I saw the sharp dorsal fin of a tiger shark…

We kept clambering up the stairs wordlessly. Finally, the quiet was getting to me, and I had to speak. "So…what's your last name? We've been traveling for days, and all I know is your first name."

"Sillico," She answered robotically.

"Psycho?"

"No! Sillico…Like silly-co."

I nodded a little. Her voice leading the way was enough to calm my panicking nerves. I wanted to keep talking, but there wasn't much else to say.

Finally, after my calves were so shot from climbing stairs I'd be able to roundhouse kick Arnold Swartzenager; we stumbled to a wide door with a big navy letters reading 'Main Deck'. We silently cracked open the door enough to peak out. Night had fallen already, and the sky was as dark blue as half the ship. Sinning silver guard rails that were the only thing separating me from the Atlantic Ocean were less than twenty yards away, and the sound of monotonous chattering and terrible 1980's music filled out ears. In the very distance, you could hear waves thunder against the hull menacingly, but I tried to focus more on The Bangles.

We slinked over to the edge of our nearest wall to get a better view of the deck. There was a wide expanse of hardwood and tanning chairs as far as the eye could see. A few juice bars, gift s hops, and Jacuzzi hot tubs dotted the place, but almost every inch was packed with glossy-eyed men wearing grey Polo shirts, and toothy-grinned woman wearing large sombreros and dark blue blouses. To me it seemed like none of them were even blinking, or even drinking their punch and they refused to drop their grins.

"Did the Insane Asylum decide to take a vacation?" I wondered aloud.

"At least you know you're in the right place, then," Moraphine whispered back.

After a few hasty protests, I risked stepping into plain view of the zomibfied passengers. It took me a minute to realize that they all seemed eerily close in resemblance to Lynrd and Skynrd…

No one even second-glanced at me. In fact, I don't think there were even any first-glances. I continued the test, stepping more into the buzzing yellow lights. The mindless chatter still continued.

I looked over my shoulder and gave Moraphine a reassuring wave. She blinked a few times – deliberating whether or not to follow – but finally stepped out from the darkness.

Together, we took a few more steps out. By now I was completely sold that no one cared about a couple teenagers hanging around a cruise ship, but if there were really any enemies among the crowd, my bright orange tee-shirt would be a dead giveaway. My reassurance didn't stop me from jumping when the overhead crackled, and a gloomy British accent flooded over the deck, instantly stopping every conversation. At first I was scared that the zombies had started looking at me, but I realized that the speaker was right above our head. The unfamiliar, dark British voice continued.

"Good evening passengers. We are currently passing the Virginia state boundary, and expect to be in South Carolina by this time tomorrow."

My eyes expanded a little bit. I was just now realizing how fast the ship was sailing along through the night…

"And don't forget to join us tomorrow morning at ten for bingo. The grand prize includes a yacht sustainable for thirty-two, and consolation winners will be given jet-ski's. The early-bird special will be steak and eggs." He voice named more coordinates and sailing terms, and something about a monster but I was completely lost after bingo. "This is your own Captain T, signing out."

The voice died-away, and the chattering and music started up again instantly. I turned my attention back to Moraphine, and finally managed to breathe, "BIGNO! We are _so _going to bingo!"

After I put my mind back together, and became totally reinforced that the mindless cruisers didn't care for our presence, I didn't hesitate to venture the food-tables, where I managed to smuggle a few bags of Lays and deviled eggs before a pale, smiling man with glazed eyes walked up behind me, staring over m shoulder at the plate of potato salad I was shoveling down. I was hoping he would leave, but he stayed there, right above my shoulder, staring at me happily.

"Um…can I help you?" I asked. He didn't blink or break his smile. I edged away.

"I am watching you eat. Do to the smell of your potatoes, I am convinced to visit the Whitewater Café` for supper with my friends and family. Thank you for listening to my speaking. It is your turn to speak."

My eyes twitched. "Thank you for smelling my potatoes…?" I guessed. Moraphine had appeared behind the man, and she was looking at me like I was crazy. Maybe she was right about the insane asylum after all…

He kept staring at me like he wanted me to continue, and Moraphine kept staring at me like a disappointed mother. I picked up a paper plate and put it in the weird man's hands. "You can get your own potatoes you know…" I confirmed.

"Thank you for your courtesy." As he approached the half-eaten bowl of potatoes, I back-pedaled over to Moraphine.

"That was interesting…" I commented. She just shook her head, both of us staring at the weird man load his plate with potato salad robotically. "So why did you come to find me?"

She didn't speak quite yet, but pointed past a group of passengers into a shady corner past a 'Sub-Waves Sandwich Hut'. There were two large – and I mean large. The size of NBA players on stilts, and completely muscular – men dressed in official pinstriped, navy suits. They had short trimmed hair, and tan faces. Their sunglasses had black wire attached to them, coiling down to their breast-pockets. They appeared to be staring right at us, talking to their chests.

"Avert your eyes," I said automatically, turning around. Moraphine followed my command.

"We have trouble…" She said. We peeked over one last time, where the two giants were stepping out of the shade, and shoving aside zombies.

"HALT!" One shouted, almost like a lion's roar, and shoved aside a few more zombies. Moraphine and I had broken into a full sprint, racing back to the staircase. I steered us around a few tables and kiosks, until we ducked under a tall silver lifeguard's chair, and scrambled to the nearest door.

I half-ran half-tumbled down the first flight of stairs, and then the next. Not even the wide black windows impeded my concentration. By the time we burst through the last doors and into a hallway similar to the one we were in earlier (only a lot bigger, and topped with fancy, bright chandeliers) we were panting like dogs, and staring desperately over our shoulders. Luckily, there were no guards. Moraphine and I looked at each other.

"Does this mean no bingo?" I asked.

*****

I ignored the cramps in my stomach, and the pains along my back and legs from the staircase as we fast-walked down the hallway. Moraphine was desperate to ride the elevators down a few stories where the empty rooms were, but I figured that was exactly what the two guards wanted us to do. We passed a few zombie-passengers that didn't mind our mad bee-line, but I didn't feel like stopping to talk with them.

Finally, after what felt like a year of fast-walking and stair-descending, we erupted into the hall closest to the cargo room. Now that lights were flickering on, I noticed a lot more rooms at the end of the hall that were dead-bolted into the wall with big flaring signs saying 'Danger!' and 'Do Not Enter!' and even some marker writing that read 'I'm an adolescent therefore I'm causing mischief! LOL!'

Moraphine and I woozily stopped, feeling ready to double over and nap right on the soft navy carpet. We would have stayed in the same room, but the first one we pulled in to was just big enough to fit a single bed, a black wooden TV stand with a mini-television set the size of a laptop, and an itty-bitty bathroom that I figured anyone over 200 pounds wouldn't even fit into. Then again, most of the people aboard seemed fit and skinny…

She bid me good night, and trekked across the hall. "If any monsters attack, the guards find you, or you get stuck in the bathroom, I'm just right here." She called, getting ready to close her silver-encrusted door.

"Yes. Good night, mother…" I called irritably, and closed the door a little harder than I meant to. I didn't waste a second flopping onto the navy feather mattress, and almost instantly falling into a deep sleep.

No dreams that I could easily remember came to me. I felt like I could snooze through an atomic bomb, and for all I knew, I might have. By the time I finally opened my eyes, my room was still as dark as night, and everything was completely silent. The ship was sailing so smoothly, that the wake didn't even make a whisper.

I sat bolt right up. Silence was never a good thing when you're a demigod. I reached over, and clicked on the lamp, glancing hastily at the only clock in the room. One by the door that was shaped like and old-fashioned wooden ship-steer. I gawked a little. 5:03? I slept _that_ long?

I took a quick shower in the tiny bathroom, bumping my arm countless times, and grabbed my remaining possessions that didn't explode in the boar fight. The tusk, my wallet, and a few chips that found their way into my pocket last night.

In the warm shower I had time to realize that Moraphine may have already been up and about, trying to knock on my door to no avail. I knew I was a heavy sleeper, but there was no way I could have slept through the morning alarm over the intercom. I hurriedly threw my bed sheets back together, and hustled across the hallway (looking both ways, like I would on a busy street) and stopped in front of Moraphine's door. I knocked twice, listening for an answer, but there wasn't a peep. I tried the handle, but instead found a sticky-note reading: 'Cade, I went up to the main deck to explore a little. Meet me up there!'.

My first realization was that my dyslexia wasn't even bothering me. My second was that I missed bingo. But my third was that Moraphine could easily be in danger. Who knows how long ago she could have written that note? And worst of all, she didn't even have a weapon…

I jogged down to the nearest elevator, not too worried about dumb and dumber (my newest nickname for the pair of guards), and pressed the largest button, supposed to lead me to the main deck.

The elevator was almost the size of my room, with plexi-glass walls letting me see the floors as I passed. I didn't see anybody walking about, which calmed down a whole lot, but I also had to wonder _why_ no one was around. I mean, there were easily a thousand things to do. It was every mortal's dream.

Finally, the elevator lurched to a stop, and the shiny doors slid open. I took a precarious step out, right into the open. There wasn't a single human being out there, and it was eerily silent. All of the huts appeared closed, and the Jacuzzi's constant flow of massage bubble came to a standstill. I have to admit I was a little creeped out, being all along in strange territory, but then I reminded myself I better get used to it since I'd be doing a lot of for the rest of my life.

I wrapped my fingers around the Dawn Treader, and took three or four steps forward, slowly. No alarms blared, and no traps sprang. I shrugged it off, and cautiously continued, looking around at the deserted deck. You would think a party of thousands of people would have taken a hygienic toll on the deck, but it was spotless.

I peered around a few huts until I found who I was looking for.

I almost shouted Moraphine's name, but she seemed so peaceful, I didn't want to ruin the moment. She was standing at the very front of the ship, looking off the very tip of the cruise over the horizon, and the bright, sparkling blue ocean. The orange and purple speckled Twilight seemed to paint a picture over the rushing wind, and majestic waters. She was resting her elbow against the protection rail, and her dark curly hair was flowing behind her, her brown leather hat was down at her feet, threatening to blow away. I was still trying to think of the right word to describe her…I almost wanted to call an artist, and command him to paint the scene.

But of course, I had to ruin it. I coughed. She jumped, and spun around. Her icy blues eyes lit up a little. "Oh, it's just you. I thought you were one of the guards…"

I walked a little closer to her, looking over the edge of the cruise, and instantly feeling queasy. She took a deep sigh. "Beautiful isn't it? It looks like heaven…"

I blinked, staring at the menacing blue water. "It looks like…water." I took one step back.

I was busy keeping an eye at the water, but I was pretty sure she scooted a little closer to me. I wasn't even mad that she risked her life any more.

"You know…this is fun. Traveling with you…" She blurted out. I hoped I didn't look as embarrassed as I felt.

"You're…fun too," I noted. She looked disappointed in my answer, and she took a step closer to my side. My hands were shaking, but I didn't think it was because of the water.

She turned her head, her icy eyes piercing mine, chopping me up like fine meat. "Do you know what I'm thinking of?" She whispered. She was so close by now, that I could feel her body heat.

I took a random guess. "The Whitewater Café`? I'm beginning to wonder what all the hype is about…"

She rolled her eyes a little bit. Still staring me down.

"No, I-…" But she was instantly cut off.

"Gottcha'! A ruff voice barked. We both jumped, and something grabbed my collar, yanking us apart. I writhed around wildly, trying to break loose, at least reach my sword, but our attackers put us in a lock, and tossed me over their shoulder like a bag of flour. "You're ours, meat!" They roared.

One of the guards was holding a panicking Moraphine, and I could only guess that Dumber was doing the same to me. Dumb and Dumber gave each other wild grins.

"The captain would like to see you two."

*****

**A/N - Thank you 'Chiaro' for telling me what a cruise is like. I'm a rather proud of this chapter…it took me three weeks to write after all.**

***Sigh*. It's THAT time of year again…the time many look forward to, and then realize how dumb they were to look forward to it. School…**

**Yes, that's right, school and sports, and all that great stuff starts for me tomorrow, and I needed to get one last piece out before it all started. I'll be lucky if I can update Once a month…so just PLEASE don't expect automatic updates until next summer, when I hope to have this one complete, and start a (possible) sequel. PLEASE, please, please review! I want to end the summer on a good note! You all rock…Stay tuned! REVIEW!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Yeah, it's been a while! A little rusty with my writing skills, so please don't mind the rushed ending. I made amends to finish or get close to finishing The Dawn Treader over Spring Break, so I can kinda' kick back over the Summer. Enjoy!**

*****

The soft, optimistic elevator music seemed unfitting, taking into mind that two life-sized beanie babies had just abducted Moraphine and me. So far, we'd tried squirming and kicking our way free, but it was no use. Dumb and Dumber had grips like steel.

As soon as the shiny doors slid open, I gave a nervous, sidelong glance to Moraphine. She was slung over Dumber's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and was breathing heavily. Our personal chaperones made a straight line down the main hallway, towards a set of double doors large enough for an elephant to fit through. Of course, we were being hauled around by two lion-men, so I wouldn't be too surprised to see an elephant stroll in.

By now I was gaping for breath, because Dumb was grasping me by the him of my shirt. I was actually a little relieved when the lion-man carrying me kicked open the door.

"Sir…" growled Dumber, lifting his free paw in what appeared to be a salute.

"Good heavens!" Squealed a high-pitched British accent from somewhere in the room. "Don't you gentlemen have an ounce of decency?"

I swiveled my head to the best of my ability to find the source of the voice, and instantly, my jaw dropped.

Now, you've seen pictures of the Grim Reaper before, and I know you've got a pretty good representation of what he looks like. But until you've seen him in the flesh (well, sort of), you have no idea what "fear" really is.

His black robes draped around him, melting into the floor like shadows. The powerful godly aura around him radiated with death and gloom.

"…slamming my door, and then bringing these filthy creatures into my office!" The god continued. "And when was the last time you two have even touched some hand sanitizer? Eugh! Disgusting." I bit my tongue as hard as I could, trying not to laugh.

I heard one of the monsters behind us growl under is breath. I decided they had to be some sort of automaton, because no lion-men monsters stuck out to me in any of the myths I knew. I also knew Death was a minor Greek god, but he had a name I couldn't quite put a finger on.

Eventually, Dumb and Dumber dumped us onto the ground in one heap, quickly snatching our wrists, and roping them together. Sadly, they had the brains to disarm us after our capture, so I was left tied up in the corner hopelessly.

"Any bright ideas?" Moraphine muttered from behind. I thought about our situation for a moment.

"No, not really." I replied. She sighed deeply.

Relaxing was difficult, but from our position in the far corner I had a good view of the captain's quarters. It was in the shape of a semicircle, equipped with a long row of advanced nautical equipment, and large, broad windows giving a clear view of the ocean for miles and miles ahead. Dumb, Dumber, and Death were grouped at the top of the room, huddled around a wooden circle with leather straps fashioned to it like cheesy grips. I thought it looked a little out of place in a room full of futuristic electronic devices. I strained my ears a little harder so I could listen to their conversation.

"…and if my calculations are precise, we should arrive at the gates by mid-evening." Death concluded with his ever-present British accent. What 'gates' was he talking about?

"Great," acknowledged one of the automatons sarcastically, "and the cargo?"

"They'll simply go down with the ship. This way the Lord will receive his package quickly and untroubled."

My mind was racing with questions. I found myself trying to sit up straighter to get a clean look at Death, but his face was concealed beneath a dark hood. He extended his cold, bony hand outward towards a green Cambridge University coffee mug with a Lipton® tea bag hanging out.

"And what do you intend we do with our unexpected guests?" growled the other automaton. Death took a long sip of his tea.

"They will simply be equal to the rest of our cargo. If they become too much of a burden, I'll see to them myself."

Generally, this would set off some sort of alarm, but instead I found my self chuckling at his accent again. Moraphine gave me a sharp jab in the back with her elbow.

"Do wish us to rid of their weapons, sir?" asked an automaton. My heart skipped a beat. Moraphine shifted uncomfortably.

"Place them on the far counter, and I'll dispose of them properly." My eyes were trained on the automaton making his way across the room towards a low counter that had several disinfectants bunched in the corner. I never really considered Febreeze as a weapon. Gently, Dumber placed my pocket knife, Moraphine's rarely-used hunting knife, and the tusk I disemboweled from Ares's boar on the platform. Moraphine started tugging at our hand brace.

Suddenly, my brain kicked into gear, drawing up countless plans of action. One thing was certain, time was running thin, and we had to get off this cruise ship, even if it meant missing bingo.

Silently, I tapped Moraphine's back to the best of my ability, and leaned into her ear. "I need you to get out of this hand brace," I whispered, "and get to our weapons. I might be able to buy you some time…"

Moraphine made a slight pleading sound. "Come on, one tired demigod versus two monsters and a minor god?"

I found myself clenching and unclenching my jaw. "Would you rather go down fighting or drowning?"

Moraphine didn't respond. Instead, I felt her wrist-much skinnier than mine-wiggle around. I tried relaxing my palm a little, leaning back into hers as to create more leeway. I sensed a popping motion, and everything went eerily quiet.

Within a nanosecond, all Hades broke loose.

Moraphine leaped into the air, and scattered blindly towards our stash of weapons. As soon as she brushed by me, I hopped to my feet, and made way towards a stunned-looking Death and his two enraged bodyguards. My original plan as to take Death out of the picture quickly by shoving him through the broad window, but Dumb intercepted me, and I fell with a heav thud to the ground. My vision was shaking violently, but I managed to crawl out from beneath the giant oaf on top of me, and made a dizzy sprint in no particular direction. When my senses came around, I caught the god streaking silently towards the old-fasioned steering wheel. At first I was confused, but my confusion quickly phased into fear as he gave a hard tug at the wheel, and it snapped out, bending into a straight stick. Lastly, as though from the shadows, a long, sharp blade emerged from the top. I quivered with fear, the world around me falling into slow motion.

How could I have been so stupid? Thinking to fight a god without identifying his emblem of power?

The temperature in the room dropped about twenty degrees, and all the dark, lurking shadows extended, casting a depressing glow over the room. I backed subconsciously towards Moraphine who seemed frozen with fear.

"You dare challenge Thanantos, God of death?!" He called his voice multiplying. If wind-chill was ever a factor indoors, it was now. Dramatically, he lifted his scythe into the air, causing me to shrink down in fear. Thanantos laughed darkly, and snapped his scythe downwards. Literally, my life flashed before my eyes.

Then, something unexplainable happened. A yellow, blood stained tusk spiraled over my shoulder, and stuck Thanantos straight through his hood. I attempted to fall away from the slow follow through of his scythe, but fell unsuccessful. Thanantos and I both cried out in pain.

The side of my stomach was alight with burning fire. It felt like someone had surgically implanted a sponge designed to suck life away from me. My strength depleted, and I was left on the ground motionless. Thanantos crashed back onto his main control panel, and Moraphine snatched his scythe off the ground.

"BACK!" She demanded. I now saw Dumb and Dumber staring at the scythe with fear, backing away slowly. My cut throbbed.

Next on Moraphine's to-do list was, apparently, to wipe out the control panel. While Thanantos yanked out the tusk, doused ith golden ichor, Moraphine jammed the scythe into the main dashboard, and began plowing down the line of fancy machines. There was a small explosion, and an alarm started blaring unusually loud. Finally, Moraphine abandoned the scythe, careful not to let the blade touch her, and grabbed my arm. "Come on!" She screamed.

That's when pure adrenaline took over. I rolled onto my knees, and nabbed the Dawn Treader off of the counter, and stumbled blindly after Moraphine.

"Attention," boomed the PA system above us as we streaked down the hallway, "We have a Code 56 on levels 4, 3, 2, and 1."

I had no idea what that meant, and I didn't really care. Suddenly, though, the silver doors lining the hallway shot open, and thousands of passengers poured out, pale and wide-eyed.

"Capture the enemy!" They shouted. Moraphine made a sound of displeasure and ran faster. I hobbled after her as fasat as I could.

Rows upon rows of people reached out to us, attempting lousy tackles or misaimed punches. We ran straight ahead, ,bowling through crowd like angry bulls. We made a sharp turn onto a deserted stairway, and charged down quickly, panting for air. Passengers chased after us like a dog on a rabbit.

We sloppily darted around the corner and onto the first floor, where more people awaited us. In their lead were two familiar faces.

"Hi, friends!" Exclaimed Lynrd. "I'd love to perform mischief with you two some more, but I've been ordered to kill you."

"I enjoy killing friends," Agreed Skynrd. By now, adrenaline had completely taken over my body, so I planted a clean punch, square on Lynrd's nose. He sauntered backwards.

"Skynrd!" He yelped "I'm a tomato!"

After what seemed like hours of wrestling through crowds of blood-thirsty zombies, we spewed onto the main deck.

I'll be honest, I expected smooth sailing after we navigated through the bunking floors, but boy was I wrong. Dead wrong.

******

I gaped, as a scene of monsters large enough to supply an army unveiled before me. Directly in front of us stood a line of six archers, drawing their arrows. Instantly, I opened the Dawn Treader, and spun around, angling my sword aerodynamically to build momentum. A volley of arrows fired at us, but I landed my body sideways to produce a smaller target, and sliced three arrows right out of the sky. Continuing my swords momentum, I swung it around again, and jabbed forcefully sideways, cutting through 2 of the 5 archers right through their midsections. While the other 3 stood stunned, I located Moraphine, and continued running forward.

Javelins and arrows zipped by us, missing by centimeters. In the background I could here alarms, explosions, and yells of disgruntled monsters.

"The life rafts!" Moraphine screamed above the commotion. I simply nodded briskly, and ran faster. Locating the rafts was easy, but getting to them would be a problem. We skidded to a halt, examining the the three snake women (drachanaes) guarding them closely. I was preparing for the charge, but Moraphine made a stopping motion with her hands.

She proceeded to close her eyes.

"Moraphine! This is no time to take a nap!" I yelled, as another volley of arrows skimmed past my ears. Moraphine opened her eyes, and pointed to the guards. Their shoulders were sagging, and they walked slowly, looking overly tired. I grinned knowingly.

Without much competition, we hurled ourselves into the raft. I shredded the ropes, and we began plummeting towards the ocean below. For a moment, everything was quiet. The wind whistled softly in my ear, but any signs of a battle had disappeared for the moment.

_Crash!_

We slammed into the water so hard, Moraphine and I were rocked into the air at least 20 feet. The gods were on our side though. While I crash-landed back into the raft, Moraphine cannon-balled into the water directly next to it. More javelins, arrows, and jars of Greek fire whistled past us.

Ignoring the sudden sense of whiplash, Moraphine began rowing desperately with her hands, while the pain in my stomach started sparking again. Everything was happening so quickly I wanted to puke.

Suddenly, there was a popping sound, and I swiveled around to see an arrow lodged into the side of our raft. Moraphine screamed, and started paddling faster. Two more arrows joined, and finally a javelin. We were slowly creating distance, but not enough.

"We're gonna' have to swim!" Moraphine cried. I frowned. Swimming in salt water was one thing I definitely could NOT do.

"WAIT!" I yelled. "I have a plan!" It was sudden. So sudden I knew it would never work. I peered over the edge, watching huge waves roll under us from the constant explosions aboard the ship. I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth started cracking, and I grasped the javelin sticking out of our raft.

My eyes fastened shut, as the wake lolled up next to us. I tugged the javelin out.

With a sudden push, like a giant punting us through the water, our raft shot forward. I screamed as loud if not louder than Moraphine, as we crashed forward. Desperately, I yanked out two more arrows, and our raft inched farther away from the demon ship.

But as I checked for a final time to see if we were finally out of range, I realized something was terribly wrong. Air was emptying quickly out of the newly formed gashes in our raft. Gallons of salt water spilled lazily over the edges, as though consuming our vessel. A searing fire enveloped me, poisonous darts seeping in trough every pore on my body. I fell hopelessly, victim to the salt water.

"Cade?" Moraphine called worriedly as I sunk deeper into the flowing water. "CADE?!"

And that was the last thing I heard.

******

**PLEASE review. Thanks! Sorry for the wait.**


	14. Chapter 14

The instant my eyes fluttered open, a fresh sense of panic settled in the pit of my stomach. I sat bolt right up and dazedly swiveled my head around in all directions. I was in a bed in a small, somehow familiar room. Water was running from the closet-sized room 5 feet to my right. Early morning light (or maybe late afternoon) filtered in through the single closed window.

That was when two things occurred to me: A) I was still alive, somehow, and B) I was hungry.

I reclined back slightly, still breathing heavily, instinctively checking my pockets for the Dawn Treader. My clothes were still sopping wet, and my stomach continued to howl. Quietly, I shuffled out of bed with the odd feeling I'd peed in it.

"Moraphine?" I called experimentally. I could hear more activity in the small room, which I figured was a bathroom. The water shut off, and a cabinet door banged closed.

"Cade?" She answered. "Oh, thank the gods! I thought you were in, like, a coma or something."

I smiled. "Yeah, then you wouldn't have any one to nag you."

The door swung open, and she entered the room wearing her old wet clothes. I guess our stuff had gone down with the ship. Of course, this included my notebook, which didn't make me happy.

"No seriously dude. I didn't know you couldn't swim. That might be something you'd want to mention _before_ we got on a boat."

I narrowed my eyes a little. "I can swim just fine. I think…I think Poseidon was a little upset at me or something." I said, remembering the old myths about Athena's rivalry with the god of the sea. I didn't want to be quick to point the finger, but maybe Poseidon just liked taking his anger out on Athena's kids.

Moraphine nodded slowly, obviously wondering the same thing as me. She edged closer to the bathroom. "Whatever. You're just lucky the Miami Sound was so close by, or you would've been sea monster food."

"Wait, you dragged me all the way to Miami?"

"No! Just to the Sound. There were plenty of yachts. I just waved one down, and told them you were 18, and our fishing boat had capsized."

"Yeah, but you still had to swim with me for a while…"

"Not really. Half a mile, maybe."

I gawked. Last time I checked, half of a mile was pretty far swimming distance. By now, my heart was racing, and I was willing to barrage Moraphine with an army of questions, but I was interrupted by a sharp, stabbing pain in my side. I fell back onto the wet bed.

"Just sleep," Moraphine advised in the background. I wanted to protest, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, my eyelids started falling like curtains. I was out cold within minutes.

The second time around, my wake up was a little more pleasant. I wasn't sure how long I'd been knocked out for, but the bright afternoon sun was filling up the entire room, even though the blinds were closed. Moraphine was fast asleep on the love seat at the foot of my bed. Whoever designed this bedroom sure wasn't expecting anyone over 50 pounds to be staying.

My body ached all around-especially the side of my stomach-and my stomach growled ferociously with every bone-jarring movement. Yet I was completely happy.

I'm not sure if my near-death experience injected me with the stereotypical 'happy to be alive' bug, or if I was just thoroughly enjoying my new freedom.

I relaxed my shoulders, and slipped into a sitting position. My clothes were a little bit drier now, but still carried the uncomfortable stuck-to-your-skin feeling. The peace and quiet was soothing though, and made a perfect venue to start drafting a plan of action. The first thing I had to remember was that I had a mission. Secondly, that food was a necessity, and finally, I should probably contact Helix sometime soon before he put a big fat red 'X' over both Moraphine and I's picture.

It seemed to take a while, but Moraphine began to stir. I gave her a bit of time to wake up while I showered.

"So what's the plan, son of Athena?" She asked groggily, rubbing her eyes. I finished flattening my overly-shaggy hair, and looked over at her.

"Well I vote we get some food first of all. Then I guess we can take a quick stroll. You know, map out the area. There's gotta' be some demigods somewhere around here…"

Moraphine simply nodded, and got to her feet.

I'll spare you the details, but as Moraphine and I walked along the South Beach Shore in the hot afternoon sun, she pretty much explained in-depth what we'd gone through the past day or so. Basically, my wild plan worked to an extent, and we were propelled out of range, but when our raft deflated and salt water seeped in, I was pretty much dragged under. Of course to me it felt much different, because it felt like millions of miniature daggers were stabbing through my pores, and being twisted. When she noticed I vanished, she dove under water, and hauled me through the ocean for half-a-mile. Finally a yacht full of kids, maybe 19 or 20, gave us a lift to shore. I knew I was a heavy sleeper, but the whole salt water incident must have hit me hard.

After that, she dragged me to the nearest motel (literally), but was forced to hide multiple times so we weren't asked any difficult questions. Lastly, she propped me into bed, and it all went uphill from there.

Now we strolled casually along the beach, enjoying the fair weather. I kept my reasonable from the water, but still enjoyed the sights and sounds of Miami. It had the big city, over-crowded polluted appearance, but still had a somewhat tropical feel.

It was kind of nice to be relaxing after over a week of non-stop near-death experiences, but naturally, our moment had to come to a halt.

By now, it was barely starting to get dark, and we'd gone off our course. I know, two kids walking around in a huge city isn't exactly safe, but we were also only half a block away from our crummy little Motel 6. No monsters had threatened us yet, which was a relief, so Moraphine and I just strolled along, talking casually, still trying to get used to the humidity.

"Yeah," I sighed, responding to a question Moraphine had asked me, "my childhood wasn't exactly choice. When I realized my mom wasn't my mom, and I had no clue who my dad was, I just couldn't stand being around them anymore…"

"Do you regret leaving?" Moraphine asked before I could finish. Her icy blue eyes were wide with suriodity. I hated being on the hot seat, so I shifted uncomfortably.

"No, I guess not. I suppose…I suppose I was always kind of the outcast at Camp, but come on, this is great. Just you and me, on the lam, saving demigods?"

I wasn't sure, but there seemed to be a pain that flickered across her face. I decided to quickly change the subject.

"So…what about you?"

She blinked. "Well, as long as I can remember my mom was a single parent. Of course, I didn't know my dad was a Greek god, I just figured he was some jerk who abandoned my mom for drugs or something. My mom wasn't well, though…I didn't understand until I was 7 or so, but she was really hit hard by the loss of my dad. She was on meds and stuff, and I kept interrupting her dreams. She would imagine herself flying, and flying, until her whole body was consumed by a blinding light."

She took a deep shaky breath. So far, I felt pretty bad for asking.

"…a couple of weeks later, she cut herself off the meds. I called the mental hospital myself, even if it meant orphaning myself. I was trying to find Camp- my dad kept sending me dreams about it- but Helix got to me first."

There was a long silence.

"Well that sucks," I said a little too loudly.

The sun was barely poking up an inch over the water, and the street we were on was consumed by a deep purple glare. We'd picked up hamburgers on a sea-side restaurant, and used the last of our money that way. I could still perfectly imagine the look on our waiters face when I ordered 5 quarter-pounders.

Moraphine breathed in the Miami air again. "So do you think we should be heading ba-…" _BOOM!_

Both o f us spun around, me drawing the Dawn Treader instinctively. Glass shards rained around us. I shot my head around to find the source, and noticed the apartment two houses and three stories above us had a shattered window. Without hesitation, Moraphine and I sprinted towards it.

"…and you're a FREAK!" mouthed a deep, grubby voice from somewhere inside the building. It also sounded like someone was crying lightly in the background.

"I hate you!" screamed the much smaller voice. I jumped at the harshness of tone. I heard a pounding sound, like someone had just pile-driven a table. I glanced at Moraphine nervously, and crept a little closer to the apartment complex.

"_I hate you!" _mimicked the second voice. He followed that up with a fit of laughter. "One more week on the streets and you'll be back. The crying grew a little more intense, and the lights started flickering through the window.

The man stopped laughing, and made a confused, nervous sound. I'd be a little worried if my lights were magically turning on and off, too.

"GET!" Screamed the man, sounding a little more worried than angry. Within a second, a young boy with scraggly dirty blond hair leaped through the window and onto the fire escape. He looked ten at the most, but slid down easily, as if he'd drilled it thousands of times. When he noticed he had a crowd, he stopped and glared at us. His eyes were a dark as coal, and his whole body was battered with bruises and scratches. His face was stained with tears.

"What are you looking at?" He spat. I tried to find words to respond, but they wouldn't come out. He made a laughing sound, and took off down the nearest alley.

Moraphine and I stood in one spot, awestruck.

Back at the motel, we couldn't get off the topic. We were sitting on the same bed, eating the leftovers from the restaurant. We'd both showered again- just in case –and Moraphine's hair was held back in a pony tail, fully exposing her eyes, which I thought were really pretty.

"He's gotta' be a demigod…" Moraphine said, mostly under her breath. "There's no way a mortal can have that kind of power."

I nodded in agreement, savoring the flavor of chicken wings. "But what kind of demigod could do those kinds of things, ujst like magic."

Moraphine froze, staring at my feet. "…magic…" she practically whispered. I stopped chewing.

Almost simultaneously, we mouthed the word "Hecate" silently.

The next morning, we contacted Helix. Of course, we didn't have any major sources of water, since the sink had no plug, so we had no choice but to use the toilet.

"Hey…" Helix said groggily, obviously just waking up. "'bout time you two checked in. How was your cruise?"

Moraphine went over the entire story in-depth, for the second time. When she finally finished, our time was running low. We had plenty of drakmas, but Helix seemed to be in a hurry.

"Wait!" I called, before he could end connection. "We found this kid. We both think he's somehow related to Hecate."

Helix nodded, vision starting to blur. "Wow, normally you don't find demigods that fast." He nodded, impressed. "Tell ya' what, I can pay for a one-way flight back up here for Moraphine and this kid. But Cade, I have other plans for you."

I'll admit it, I was extremely unhappy to be leaving Moraphine, but I knew it had to happen at some time. We were being evicted at noon, so we had no choice to spend the rest of our day searching for our target.

We started back at his apartment, where the window was still broken, but there was no activity. Afterwards, we expanded our search into the alleyway he'd run into. Generally, allies were the worst possible spot for demigods in big cities, and as we walked through, I had my hand on the Dawn Treader at all expenses. Sadly, there was still no sign of the demigod.

Moraphine insisted we check all surrounding alley-ways, much to my protest, but we still didn't find anything except a bunch of homeless people and trash.

Finally, around three in the afternoon, it was nearly a hundred degrees, and I was willing to give up our search. Moraphine simply rolled her eyes.

"Come on! It's not like we have anywhere to sleep tonight. I'd much rather be taking a late night plane back to New York."

"I dunno', that trash can over there looks awfully cozy," I said, gesturing towards a stack of in garbage cans to our left.

"No thank you," Moraphine responded, "and besides, I think that hobo over there already has dibs.

Just then, our luck started to lighten up. A sudden cheering of people in the alleyway parallel to us caught our attention. Gradually, we made our way to a small group of people, 'ooh'ing and 'aahh'ing at something.

"That's right folks, for the low price of one dollar; I can transform this piece of trash into a bouquet of flowers." Called a familiar voice. Vendors were pretty common here in the big city, so these people obviously didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Instead, they hurled crinkled dollar bills into the center, and screamed with delight. Moraphine nudged me happily.

After a few more tricks, the crowd began to dissipate, until finally, the kid shouted, "Thanks folks! Come again, same time tomorrow for a fresh set of tricks. Bring your wallets!"

People of all kinds lumbered past us, murmuring excitedly to each other. Once they had all dispersed, I had the kid mutter "saps", and then he started counting his money. Moraphine glanced at each other, and began walking towards him at a brisk pace. He froze, and looked at us.

"I know you…" he stated, tucking his money safely into his pocket. "Why do you keep stalking me? What are ya', cops?"

I shook my head slowly, and took a step towards him. He took a step back. "No. We're…we're here to help you. Do you have a mom?"

He stepped behind the nearest trash can. "Who needs to know?" I clenched my jaw.

"We do. We want to help…" I said slowly. He scoffed.

"Psh, that's exactly what all the people who want to lock me up say."

"No, really, we're not here to arrest you. Do you have a mom?"

He just sat there and glared at us. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't."

I looked at Moraphine for back-up. She sighed, and pulled something out of her pocket. It was the last chicken wing from our leftovers.

"Hungry?" She asked. The kid wet his lips a little, and took an experimental step out from his barrier. "Its okay," She said motherly. The kid took a deep breath, and stepped out a little more.

"We saw what your father did to you last night. That's not fair to you. We know how you feel," I added, "we're like you. There's a place for people like us."

Finally, after excruciating minutes of pain, the kid walked out from behind the trashcans. He snatched the chicken out from Moraphine's hands, and devoured it in one bite.

"Okay," he said, satisfied, "Talk to me."


	15. Chapter 15

** Wow, didn't know you guys liked my commentating so much. In other news, first day of Summer! And now that I'm all finished with vacations, I'll be finding time to post some more capters. I noticed that FF has been getting too crowded, though, which bothers me. Anyways, enjoy.**

The past two days, Moraphine and I had been lucky enough not to be disturbed by any monsters. But now, walking around with two other demigods in plane sight, I felt like I was wearing a neon yellow shirt that said "eat me".

The kid we rescued, Dalen, apparently knew Miami like the back of the hand, and didn't hesitate to navigate us towards the airport. He even seemed a little easier to talk to now that we were on the same page. Of course, we had to obey Helix's number one rule of keeping info about our society minimal, so we covered by dragging on about how great Camp was. Most of what I said was a lie.

Finally, maybe around eight at night, we strolled in through the sliding glass doors of the Miami International Airport. I'd only ever been to an airport once before, and I was a little nervous. A bunch of adults gave us uneasy glances as they passed, probably because they didn't trust a bunch of teenagers in torn-up clothes in an airport without any luggage at all.

Dalen still seemed excited. He gazed at everything silently with wide, affectionate eyes. It made me wonder whether or not he'd ever encountered a monster.

At the ticket stand, the lady seemed to know exactly who we were before we even asked her anything. It crept me out a little, but I didn't say anything, because it beat standing around in line for hours on end. Moraphine seemed completely familiar with the system, so I let her herd Dalen and I to the right gate. Her plane was scheduled to leave only ten minutes before mine, and my gate was pretty much on the other side of the airport, but I didn't feel comfortable leaving Moraphine and Dalen just yet. I didn't really want to tell Moraphine I was staying just for her, though, so I explained that I wanted to see how the boarding process worked.

After over an hour of listening to Dalen interrogate us about Camp Half Blood, I was about ready to send him back to the streets. Moraphine read my emotions, and started giggling.

"What?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "You don't have to baby-sit us."

I wasn't sure how to respond, so I just smiled, and nudged her playfully. "And if a monster came by, you'd do what? Tuck it in for a nap?"

Just then a woman's voice rang through the intercom, in a tone that seemed like she was forcing herself to smile. "Gate 27B, you may now begin the boarding process…"

Moraphine, Dalen and I stood up. Moraphine and I shared a quick glance, while Dalen performed something close to a potty-dance. And to think this kid occurred to me a threat not 2 hours ago.

"Last call for Gate 27B," Reminded the woman. Dalen practically sprinted towards the gate. Funny what one chicken wing can do to a kid's entire attitude.

Moraphine took a step forward, but looked back at me for a moment. "Um…thanks." She said, and followed Jackson onto the plane. And just like that, she was gone.

I stood in that same spot for a moment, somehow confused. Was I expecting something more? I clenched my jaw, not really sure how I felt, and began walking towards my own gate.

I've been in several pressure situations in the past. I've been tortured by monsters, and left to die. I've escaped a cruise ship full of monsters, and wrestled a Cyclops bare-handed (long story), but never in my short life had I felt more scared than sitting alone in the back of a nearly-empty airplane as it barreled down the runway. I knew I had nothing to fear, since Athena was generally regarded as Zeus's favorite child, and he wouldn't dare disgrace her by blasting one of her children out of the air, but I still felt as though someone had just pumped a gallon of Red Bull directly into my lungs.

"Complimentary peanuts, sir?" Someone next to me asked. I jumped so hard I accidentally slammed my arm into the chair in front of me. Just then, the plane rumbled slightly, gaining altitude, and I made a helpless whimpering sound.

I tried to say "Yes please", but I'm sure it sounded more like a tortoise trying to announce "Mississippi". The Stewardess gave me a wary look, and stalked back up the hall. The plane was completely empty except for me, a short, chubby man who was fast asleep clear in the front, and an elderly woman deeply intrigued with her book.

I was happy no one was watching me, though, because I was doused with sweat, and probably breathing heavily. The thought of myself gave me the strange picture of me on a first date.

After what seemed like hours, they plane seemed to steady, and fly smoothly in one direction. So far, so good. Thankfully, none of my co-flyers had decided to eat me, and Zeus hadn't master-bolted us out of the air. My head flailed back onto the head rest.

I was weary and clammy, but I knew there was no chance I'd be getting any sleep. And the fact that darkness had enveloped everything outside of my window didn't help matters, either.

So I was left, staring at the leather vinyl of the seat in front of me, thinking over everything I'd gone through in the past week, which only filtered more questions. Why was Thanantos planning on killing so many mortals and monsters? Did the boar in the semi-truck have anything to do with the cruise ship? And the Libyan Satyr? How many demigods had the others rescued?

I sighed shifting uncomfortably. After a while, my eyelids closed, but I still couldn't fully fall asleep. Slowly, I began to doze, my fingers locked in a death-grip around the Dawn Treader in my pocket.

The next thing I knew, I was back in Hades's Palace under a sky of fire. The robed figure was rubbing his hands together greedily, talking quickly to Hades, who sat boredly in his chair.

"…and your shipment was received on time, though there was a slight delay, and we should be ready to proceed with Plan A in T-minus two weeks." The robed man explained. I still couldn't shake the nagging feeling I knew him from somewhere…

"Very well, general." Hades said, brushing his bident gently with his thumb. "That fool Zeus will never see it coming. Camp Half-Blood will fall with ease."

My heart pole-vaulted about a mile before I realized what was happening. There was no way this could be true. After all it was a dream…

_Ding. _"Fasten your seatbelts; touch-down is less than twenty minutes from this point. Thank you." I bolted awake in a cold sweat. Looking around wildly for Hades and the robed figure, but instead I found myself back on the plane, now gradually descending. Frankly, I'm not sure which place was worse.

"Looks like conditions are warm, high eighties, air quality is green, and winds are blowing at an easy 10 miles per hour." The plane lost more altitude, and was followed by a series of strong bumps. I found my fingernails digging into the edge of my seat.

"Touch-down in t-minus 5 minutes. Thank you for flying Southwest airlines, and enjoy your stay in Malibu, California."

**Storie's about to get pretty crazy. PLEASE review! I got, like, 2 last chaper, and that's not giving me the motivation to continue. REVIEW!**


	16. Chapter 16

**One review?**

After the life-jarring experience of a plane landing, I didn't have to get my luggage, so I just walked out to the front of the building. It was considerably smaller than the one in Miami, but the city was also much nicer than Miami.

Even though all I could see right now was a highway in the distance, and a few palm trees, I could already tell how much cleaner the air around here was than in South Beach, even if it wasn't very far from the Dirty City.

And then I just stood there. I needed a plan, but I had no idea how I was going to hike from here to the main city and much less find a demigod. _One _demigod.

_You'll need a car, _proposed a nagging voice in the back of my head. Great, I was so alone already that I was talking to myself. The worst part was, I was right.

Helix had restocked me with 200$, and car rentals were only around fifty, plus I did technically have a driver's license thanks to magic wallet (which I was smart enough to put in my pocket before I went out to find Moraphine on the cruise ship).

I'm not sure how long I stood there before actually deciding to get a rental car. The air was warm, and the whole place radiated with a summer-time feel. I made a mental note to come back here on a vacation sometime.

"Good morning, sir how can we help…you?" Said a man in the Midas booth wearing a green vest. According to his name tag, his name was Craig. "Are you waiting for your parents?"

On the inside I was a little torn I didn't look old enough to drive, but I just prepared him with my driver's license. "Actually, I'm here to rent a car. Do you have any Mustangs, perhaps…?"

He looked up from reading my license. "What?"

"Um…Toyotas," I corrected, looking back at the price sheet.

"Actually, I can't give you any car. It says here you're only sixteen, and the rules clearly state you must be at least twenty-one years of age to rent a car."

"Heh. Yeah, because someone old enough to drink will be so much better at driving than a kid," I blurted out. Craig glared at me, but the phone took away his attention.

"Hello? Be right there sir…" He said loyally, but as soon as he hung up, he sighed. "Sorry, kid, you're out of luck," and then he smiled, "have fun walking."

Of course, being the person I am, I had a plan B, but I wasn't willing to use until right about then. Craig walked around back of the counter, and I placed two twenty dollar bills on the counter. The rules clearly state there's a ten dollar deduction fee for anybody dumb enough to leave a teenager alone in parking garage full of cars. Especially one who knew how to hot wire cars.

"...come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be, as a friend, as a friend, as known enemy," I sang loudly, enjoying the fact that no one was here to play American Idol with me. I sped down the moderately empty stretch of highway with the windows of my knew yellow Mustang G.T. rolled down, playing some real music. This car was much lower than a Chevy Silverado, so I didn't even need to make any detours to Zamzows to get seat heighteners. And for this one moment in time, life was good. Well, except for the fact that Craig probably knew my name and exactly what car I stole. Cops were the least of worries, though.

After maybe twenty minutes of driving, I turned down an on-ramp that lead me to the main highway and I sighed. Time to start obeying the rules of the road, again.

I thought my car might be too flashy and stick out like a sore thumb, but most of the cars in sight were either convertibles, or really expensive new models I hadn't even heard of. Apparently, there was a new Camaro that I probably would've stolen over a Mustang.

Finally, after several U-turns, I located the exit that would take me to downtown Malibu. For whatever reason, Malibu almost perfectly matched my idea of Hawaii. In the east, golden hills flanked the sunrise, while in the west palm trees dotted lowly buildings and tropical shrubbery, and finally spilled into a wide, blue ocean.

The sunset, which was so mesmerizing I'd almost driven right off of the road a couple of times, shone faintly as I wheeled into the downtown portion of Malibu. The fancy sea-side hotels were overflowing with adults, while the close-to-the-sea-but-not-technically-sea-side Best Western was packed with tan kids, age 24 at the most, holding surfboards.

Finally, I came to ends with myself, and realized the money I'd be shoveling into gas and rental for this car would be coming out of my hotel fund. I wouldn't mind sleeping in my Mustang though. I mean, trust me, I've slept in worse.

When the sky turned into a dark shade of blue-purple, I slid into a parking spot next to an old wooden fence overlooking the sea. It looked like it would collapse with the addition of one more seagull.

I kicked my feet back onto the dashboard and watched the beach. My official search would start tomorrow, but for now I could rest. Music played softly in my ears, something by Alice In Chains. When I'd left for Camp so long ago, Layne Staley had died, but apparently they'd gotten a new singer, and were still melting faces.

My eyelids drooped a little, while I watched some of the extreme surfers catch some nighttime waves, and seagulls fight over some dead fish.

And that's when I saw her. At the time I had no idea she'd have a huge impact on my life, but for now, she sparked a light of interest in my eyes. She had torn shorts on, and a white t-shirt that seemed a little too big for her, so it was pulled into place with a rubber band-tail. She had jet black hair, and deep green eyes I could make out from my spot in the car. As I watched, she walked from the center of the beach towards the shore, and just sat back, watching the ocean longingly.

Why was I interested in her? I don't know. Would that end up being a good thing? Yes.

Before I knew it, I'd fallen asleep in my car with doors locked and windows rolled most of the way up.

I was woken early by the sound of waves crashing in, and people yelling to each other. The sun was so immense it made the Earth seem as yellow as my car. I didn't have any more odd dreams, so I awoke with a new energy.

I decided walking would be more efficient, since I couldn't afford to waste gas, so I stepped out of the car. My legs were stiff from sleeping in an awkward position, but I got used to it after a while, and enjoyed the freedom.

First, I strolled into a low-lying diner that appeared to have fair prices, so I sat on one of the barstools, and ordered everything I could with a fifteen dollar breakfast budget. The trick was ordering lots of things cheap and small, and then eating half on the spot, and half later.

After that, I reminded myself to get back to business. So I decided to explore the beach first.

After a while, I chose to take off my sneakers, and walk around barefoot. The sand was almost unbearably hot, and I figured I probably looked pretty ridiculous walking around a beach with jeans and a t-shirt on. Especially ones that were torn in every direction and probably stunk as bad as Pegasus poop. Surfers, families, and even a few stragglers who stayed off to the side under an umbrella reading books dotted the beach. I kept my eyes peeled for any odd activity, but nothing jumped out to me.

It seemed to take hours before I was on the verge of abandoning the beach, and checking out the first part of downtown. Helix warned me that he'd never sent anybody here before, so finding a demigod could be easy, or extremely difficult.

The further I walked, looking for a staircase or something to take back to the mainland, the more people seemed to simply disappear. I also noticed the cliffs were getting taller to my right, so I began to wonder of this piece was off-limits or something. And that's when she appeared again. I froze and watched her. She was standing in one spot, watching the cliff side was wide eyes. I took a couple of steps closer.

"Um…hey," I said lamely. She held up a finger for silence instantly.

I glanced over towards the area she was staring at, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"What?" I wondered out loud, hoping for a response. She held up her whole hand this time, a little more forcefully. There was the sound of tumbling rocks in the spot she was analyzing. I stared from her, and back to the rocks a few times.

"Who are you?" she asked. Her voice sounded serious, but there was obviously worry in her eyes.

"Um…" I started, trying to remember my name, "Cade. Cade Geiger. Are you…waiting for something?"

She blinked, still staring at the cliff. "Kind of. If I were you, I'd turn tail and run, right now."

I held my ground, and smiled. "Trust me here, I've dealt with plenty of dangerous things in my lifetime. What are you waiting for?"

She grit her teeth. "Go! Now!"

"All right. If you need any help, just…"

_Sssss-hccck. _Something spat in the distance, like a giant rattlesnake. I drew the Dawn Treader without even thinking.

Now the girl looked totally freaked out, stepping back a couple of steps. "They always find me…" she muttered under her breath. I was genuinely curious.

"Who?" I almost whispered. She simply pointed a finger, and I turned around.

Now I saw it. A six-legged beast, with an armored body the size of the café I'd just eaten at stormed down the side of the cliff. Its massive tail swung wildly as it ran, like a wrecking ball. It was easily the largest pit scorpion I'd ever seen.

**I know it's not gold, and I know it's fast, but it's at least worth more than one review, right? REVIEEEEEW PLEASE!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Score, I got two reviews. Thank you Claire, your reviews are always worth my times, and for the other person who reviewed- thanks a ton for the review, but I'm spitting these chapters at you guys on a planned time-basis. Anyways, here's the next chapter, and I finally snuck in some action. Enjoy!**

"…this could be a problem," I stated in awe as the beast hurdled closer to us. By now, the Dawn Treader was fully out, and I was imagining how it looked to the girl. After all, she saw the scorpion, right?

"Yeah, just a little…" she responded weakly from behind.

"HHCCCKKK!" The pit scorpion shrieked, and lunged to a halt- spraying sand at both of us –and swung its massive, poisonous tail.

I yipped, and fell flat on my back, swinging the Dawn Treader protectively. My sword and the scorpion's tail collided with a force of an atomic bomb going off in a hollow metal tube. My sword barely even dented his armor. As soon as its tail missed, he tried to lean over and bite me, but I dodged fairly easily, rolling to the left, and leaping onto my feet.

Behind me, the girl was picking up rocks, and hurling them at the scorpion. I got the dreadful feeling she'd had experience with monsters. I also got the feeling that rocks bouncing off that things head felt like gentle rain drops.

I stumbled back with my head on a swivel, attempting to meet up with the girl. "We…got…to…get…out…of…here…" I said between pants. She was way ahead of me though, already bolting away- but towards the water. I clenched my jaw and sprinted after her, while the pit scorpion, which had surprising speed, began closing in on us.

Of course, the heat of battle was the only thing in the world that would make me crazy enough to re-enter the ocean. She finally stopped running when we were about knee-deep into the water.

"FFFFF," sprayed the scorpion with glee. I'm sure he couldn't believe his own luck; two snacks instead of one. He spun his tail, and swiped it from the side. I dove into the water, and broke the surface before Poseidon could try any funny stuff.

Without even thinking it through, I recognized the scorpion was off-balance and charged, head-on. It lunged with its mouth, but I met it perfectly at the point of impact with my blade. It took most of the strength in my upper body to keep the thing elevated by its mouth, and I knew I couldn't keep it there forever. With a mighty slash, I fell backwards, met by the blow of the scorpion's spiny body. Maybe I wasn't giving this thing enough credit…or maybe I just really made it mad by slicing his mouth open. Green blood dripped evenly into the blue waters.

With a thud, I splashed back into the water ten yards away. The scorpion hissed with frustration, and bowled towards me, tail at the ready. Even though the water was "retaliating", and not wanting me to surface, I managed to shove my way free, and meet the pit scorpion's tail with a well-aimed slice. It still had no effect, so I tried an attack from the inside again, only to be blown away by its spiny body again.

Only, this time when I crash-landed into the water, the water refused to cooperate. Once again I felt the burning of a thousand poison arrows flying through each of my pores. My wound had re-opened, and I had plenty more new ones bleeding. The girl chucked another rock to no effect.

I tried desperately to reach the surface, only to be held back by the force of the water. The scorpion stormed over to my spot, and positioned itself, raising its poisonous stinger menacingly. I wanted to cry out for help, but I couldn't. My whole body felt like it was on fire.

…and I knew I was going to die. Either the scorpion would get me first. One blow from that thing, and you were a sure-fire goner. That or I'd drown, right on the spot. I could feel my lungs ready to burst. The scorpion prepared its windup, and my life flashed before my eyes. Images of Idaho, and Camp, and Helix, and Moraphine…

Suddenly, everything fell into slow motion. The scorpion froze, mid-strike, and looked around, confused. The water covering me started depleting, as if someone was sucking a giant vacuum over my face. Actually, over this whole area.

I took a wild breath as the water vanished from around my face, and tumbled awkwardly into a sitting position. And that's when it all occurred to me. I was inside a giant, blue funnel, just like how you would imagine the inside of a tornado, only with water. Was Poseidon pitying me? No. Worse.

The raging funnel of water soared higher, gaining plenty of altitude, but shrinking in width. The scorpion was frozen in shock, and I'm sure I was too. The girl in the corner had her hands raised slightly, and a look of pure anguish on her face.

"How…how are you doing this?" I shouted.

"…I don't know," Was my response, and then the world fell into silence. The funnel stopped growing, and the water stopped surging. The girl closed her eyes.

As if saying "where was I?" the scorpion turned his attention back to me, and steadied his tail again.

_WHOOSH!_

The force of a thousand hurricanes raged above us, thundering downwards with all its strength.

"Oh my gods…" I muttered in awe before the funnel, and its entirety, slammed down with all its force, and everything faded to black.

Turquoise. That was the very first thing that occurred to me as my eyes shot open, and I sat jack-knife. Everything around me was turquoise, or maybe a darker shade. The walls appeared to be made out of a fine limestone-like material, and seashells or pearls were embroided beautifully into everything. Every now and then pieces of coral and Greek fire torches would line the wall. A huge glass window behind two blue thrones shone clearly my worst fear.

The bottom of the ocean.

I began breathing heavily (wait, breathing?) and feared I might start to hyperventilate. I knew exactly where we were, but I was too afraid to admit.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Geiger," Sounded a strong, proud voice from behind me. I spun around, and Thanantos's hand itself snatched my heart.

"Good afternoon Poseidon. Um…sir. Good afternoon sir," I said awkwardly, clumsily falling into a bow position.

Poseidon chuckled. "And to think they gave your mother is the goddess of wisdom…" He snickered, and turned towards the girl, who was standing next to me, looking totally confused.

"My girl!" He shrieked, and wrapped the girl in a godly bear hug. She looked at me for help, but I was as lost- if not more lost –than she was. When they embraced, I saw some of the fear melt from her eyes.

"Come," Poseidon said softly, "I have much to explain."

Poseidon led the girl out of the room with a powerful, tan arm extended around her shoulders. I blinked a couple of times, trying to chronologically order everything that had just happened in the past 10 minutes.

While they took a lovely afternoon stroll, I was left alone with a couple of the sea god's guards, who looked like muscular swordfish-men straight out of the second Pirates of The Caribbean movie.

"How 'bout those Marlins?" I asked slowly, trying to break the awkward silence. What other baseball team would a swordfish like?

He glared at me evilly, fiddling with his seashell-axe. "I'm a Mariners fan," he stated, confirming my darkest fear.

I turned my attention back to the beautiful thrones at the head of the room, feeling extremely out of place. A few things were still bothering, like how I wasn't being crushed like a tin can under the pressure of water, or how I was still breathing. You know, basic laws of science. Another thing bothering me was how my life was totally at the hands of Poseidon, yet I wasn't being vaporized on the spot. I mean, he _had_ already tried to kill me twice.

It felt like hours of head-jarring torture, but Poseidon and the girl eventually re-entered the throne room. The mysterious girl seemed lost in a pool of wonder, and her eyes seemed somehow vacant. At least Poseidon had saved me the trouble explaining the whole "by the way, the Greek Gods are still chilling here in America" thing. There was another emotion flashing in her eyes, though, and I couldn't quite put a finger on it.

"Yes, and Mr. Geiger…" Poseidon said, turning his full attention towards me, "I'd like to have a word with you as well."

By now, my heart had permanently settled in my throat, and I was wishing desperately to be alone with the swordfish-man again.

"O-okay," I said in a small voice. He walked briskly in my direction with a stoic expression, and herded outside of the throne room. Finally, we spilled out into what I figured was a hallway with a couple large windows.

"I don't know if you know this," he began, staring out of the nearest window with an ageless fire in his eyes, "but I've been watching you."

Yeah, you've almost killed me twice. "Oh, have you?" I responded innocently. He gave me a sidelong glance, quickly reminding me that he could probably read my thoughts.

"Yes," he concluded briefly, "and there's more I'd like to ask of you."

I developed a sudden interest in the floor. Every demigod always dreamed of having a god- especially one of the Big 3- ask them to perform a personal favor, yet part of me was unwilling to aid someone I'd been taught to hate since birth. Without waiting for a response, Poseidon continued.

"I'm asking you, as your uncle, to perform one simple task for me…" he said gravely. I almost snickered when he mentioned that he was asking me a favor as my _uncle_. Well, technically great-uncle…

"…you must protect my daughter at all costs, even if means your life. Though I doubt severe dedication is anything of a trait to any child of Athena. If you can do this, you may be rewarded, and if not, there will be consequences."

I blinked, letting the silence seep in. "You brought us all the way down here to tell me that?" I blurted out. Did he think I wasn't planning on doing that anyways? It was part of my oath to Helix and the society. I was obliged to risk my life for her. I guess now I was double-obliged.

Poseidon's glare bore into me with the severity of a thousand thunderstorms. "Yes," He answered in one, simple word, and turned his back to me.

I was totally dumb-founded. A thousand questions were running through my head. Why did he suddenly want me alive? What was so special about his daughter?

At some point, I wandered back into the throne room, where Poseidon and his daughter embraced one last time. Everything was happening too quickly, and I was developing a bad case of vertigo.

"Farewell, child of Athena…" he declared in a monotone, and flicked his hands. Instantly, the girl and I were devoured by a swirling spout of sea water and bubbles, and instantly I got the overwhelming sensation that I'd just been blown out of a volcano.

Within seconds, the stinging brightness of the mid-afternoon California sunshine tackled me head-on, and I realized I was flying over a familiar stretch of beach. As though the ocean had just spit us out, we sailed through the air, and landed in the center of the main beach. Poseidon's daughter landed clumsily on her feet, flailing her arms around to regain balance, while I darted into the rough, hot sand upside-down, and took an extremely painful nose dive into the earth. I heard the girl giggle softly behind me.

I spit some of the sand out of my mouth. "Well that had to be the craziest fifteen minutes of my life."

**Yes, I know, too quick and too confusing, but it'll all make sense later. REVIEW PLEASE! **


	18. Chapter 18

**This is one chapter I feared Cade may be a bit too perfect, but sometimes it's hard to avoid. REVIEW! There was an improvement from last time, but do you know how many people favorited this story? That meant they read it, might as well review!**

"Nice ride," commented the girl as she brushed her palm over the hood of my Mustang. I still had no clue what her name was.

"Yeah," I agreed, popping the hood open and leaning in to begin the hot-wiring process.

"How exactly could you afford it?" She wondered out loud. I fiddled around with the car's interiors some more.

"Well actually, it's a rental," I answered, analyzing our surroundings while I stretched my back. About eight parking spaces over, two muscular male cops were taping a pink ticket to the hood of a Volkswagen that had parked in between two parking slots, "sort of." I still wasn't sure how I was going to return it.

At first the two cops didn't bother me, but as I looked over in their direction again while the engine roared to life, and I closed the hood, I noticed them watching us, discussing quietly to each other under their breath.

"Let's get out of here…" I muttered.

"Shotgun!" claimed the girl, uncontested.

Within moments, we were barreling down the familiar stretch of highway with sand kicking up behind us. I'd shoveled forty more dollars into gas, but Mustangs were particularly fuel efficient, so I figured a full tank would last us a while.

The girl was slightly taller than me- maybe two inches at the most –but so far she hadn't tried to kill me, so I figured things were all right between us.

"So what's this Camp Half-Blood place like?" the girl shouted at me over the wind. I rolled up the windows a little bit.

"It's really nice," I started, avoiding eye contact by staring at the road. For whatever reason it still felt uncomfortable talking to this girl, "it's shaped like a really fat square, but it's big enough to fit a forest and a lake. It's had a tough time in…recent years, but everything's green and happy again. There's the big house, where the camp director and punishment director stay, a sword fighting arena, a lunch hall, and about 18 cabins designed specially for each individual god."

"Wow…" she mumbled under her breath, "and no monsters?"

"Nope. They're blocked off by a magical border type thing. Chiron- camp director. Pretty cool guy –stocks the forest with monsters though, for training purposes.

"Thank God," she sighed, but quickly corrected herself, "gods."

I narrowed my eyes a little. "Do you have experience with monsters?"

To my surprise she didn't even hesitate to provide me with an answer. "Yep. Downtown Malibu's infested with them, which is why I kind of like to stick to the beach."

I nodded, making a mental note to dip back into that later. "So…what's your name?"

She blinked. Yeah, a name might be kind of important. "Katell," she said slowly. Suddenly, it felt like a glass wall had melted in between us. "And your name was Cade?"

I nodded.

"Well then, Cade, I hope you know where the registration papers are…" she stated frowning, and pointing at her rear-view mirror. Blue and red lights were flashing, and a white dot had appeared on the horizon. My heart started thumping, and I slowed down a little more.

There wasn't exactly a place to pull over, so I just kind of came to a halt next to the road in the sandy earth. Behind us, a car door slammed shut, and a figure took several dramatic steps forward, just like you'd imagine in a movie.

"Good afternoon, sir," he said harshly. His voice hinted of a southern accent, and he had a thick comb shaped mustache on his upper-lip, even though the rest of his egg-head was mostly bald, as if he expected his upper lip to make up for the hair he lost. The main thing I noticed though was his pair of bulky, one lens, 80's style sunglasses. "License and registration, please?"

I looked over at Katell, and looked deeply into her eyes for a moment. "Katell, could you reach into the glove box and try to find the registration papers?"

Luckily, she seemed to get the point, and shuffled slowly through each of the papers, searching for the non-existent registration document. I whipped out my wallet, and slid the officer my driver's license.

"What exactly is the problem, officer?" I asked, trying to sound as innocent as I could.

He finished scanning over my license, and tossed it back into my lap. "We've received reports of a stolen car, and this seems to match the description."

My mind started racing, forming plan after plan systematically, like clockwork. Over the officer's shoulder, another officer with a similar uniform appeared. He had the same style of sunglasses, but looked younger and skinnier, with a full head of hair. When I didn't answer, the two cops shared a look, and then locked gazes with me.

"I have one question for you: Is this car stolen?" He said, barely over a whisper.

"I have one question for _you_," I challenged, "did I miss the invitation for eighties night at the police station?"

The police man outside of our window grit his teeth, and turned slightly red. Something was telling me I didn't want to make this particular cop mad, but if my plan was going to work, I had to.

"Harassing an officer…" his partner noted, jotting words onto a piece of paper.

"Please step out of the vehicle," commanded egg-head.

"Bite me," Katell retorted from the passenger's side.

"Don't be giving him any ideas…" I added quickly, watching both officers grow more and more red. By now, I'd already figured out they were the same officers I saw not too long ago back at the beach, and I knew they couldn't possibly be human, because it just wasn't that easy for a demigod. Ever.

"Please step OUT of the CAR!" He demanded loudly this time, in more of a roar.

"No back-up necessary, I repeat no back up necessary. This situation is thoroughly in control," said the other officer casually into a walkie-talkie, as he turned off the transmitter. Both had started growing several inches, and spurting more muscles.

When I didn't comply, he launched two gigantic hands in our direction. "Showtime," I muttered, and floored the gas pedal.

With a blood-curling squeal and plenty of sand involuntarily kicked into the air, our car shot forward. The two cops dashed back to their car wildly, dropping their sunglasses on the way, and confirming my original hunch- one eye. That was okay, though. The eighties called, and they wanted the sunglasses back.

Cyclopes were generally good creatures, you know working happily in the forges under the sea and all, but there were a few stragglers left from the titan war that still had evil intentions. That would explain why no back-up was called, which was my treat as well as theirs.

I'd seen car chases on TV before, and I'd always wanted to be in one, but until you've actually participated, you have no idea what an adrenaline rush it actually is.

My window was still open, so hot gusting winds sprayed my face as our American muscle car raced down the highway at one-hundred-and-eighty miles per hour. Behind us, sirens were wailing, and lights were flashing hysterically.

_Pow! Pop!_

I glanced as quickly as I could into the rearview mirror, and watched as comb-stache leaned out the window- now in full Cyclops form –with his pistol, and shot fiercely at our tires. There was no way those huge hands could fit a gun properly, though. Still, I told Katell to get down.

I swerved left, then right, then quickly left, and then far to the right in an attempt to waste his ammo. Our back windshield shattered, and stuffing from the back seat sprang through the air.

With a roar of frustration, the officer chucked his gun at our car, which I figured dented the body. Out of ammo.

My swerving tactic had saved our lives, but it gave them the opportunity to catch up. Now our cars raced, side by side, as comb-stache fired their second gun at my ride. This time, I was forced to get down, too, and let the car (kind of) drive itself for a moment. There was the sound of gunfire, and shattering glass as well as bullet ricocheting off of metal.

_SLAM!_

Our car lunged to the right drastically, steam pouring out of the hood. I popped back into my seat, and wildly yanked the steering wheel to the left, slamming back into their car. Comb-stache was waiting though.

As soon as we connected, he leaped through both windows, and landed halfway, hanging like a bridge between the opposing vehicles. With his one free hand, he swung a wooden club ferociously, sending pieces of seat and interior plastic everywhere. Somehow, he managed to miss both of us, and I swerved again to the right. The Cyclops wailed in fear, and hung on to our window for dear life, slowly trying to climb back in.

Suddenly, I jumped almost completely out of my seat. Katell had lunged for my pockets, and was now chopping furiously with my sword, on my lap, at the hands of the Cyclops. The sword flailed awkwardly in the wind, though, which made it hard to get a clean strike, but somehow her natural sword fighting instincts payed off, and the beast rolled lethargically away behind us, stained in dark red blood. One down, one to go.

_BAM!_

Katell yipped, and plummeted backwards, bumping hear head pretty hard on the joystick. A green sign reading "Exit 74, 2 miles right" barely passed my consciousness.

Together, our mustang and the cop car repeatedly slammed into each other, probably causing some irreparable damage. I knew our little muscle car couldn't last much longer though, which called for drastic measures. And I _always _had a plan for drastic measures.

Our car dragged as I made a sudden right onto the exit. The cop car didn't hesitate to follow, slamming harshly into the concrete barrier. Other cars moved to the sides instantly, screaming in terror as I rode by. I had absolutely no time to admire how awesome I probably looked right then.

After coursing through non-apparent on-coming traffic, I turned the car madly onto the large, circular on-ramp. I had one shot to get this right, but it meant putting both my life and Katell's life in danger.

The Mustang hummed loudly as I floored the gas pedal for the final time, the battered cop car hot on our tail. Small pops and sparks of flame reminded what bad condition our vehicle was in. Suddenly, just as we entered the main loop, I spun the steering wheel as far left as it could go.

Everything fell into silence. Our car turned sharply, and drifted until it was completely sideways, carried by momentum alone. I'm not going to lie, it may have been the coolest thing I'd ever done before.

Everything fell into place. The cop car turned frantically, trying to chase us, but failed dramatically, and slammed at nearly two-hundred miles per hour into the concrete barrier. There was a hardly-audible explosion from somewhere behind us.

Several rough yanks later, I managed to steady the car back into place. Plenty shocked on-lookers gawked as I drove away, hands shaking fiercly, head glued to what remained of my headrest by sweat.

Finally, as the sun slipped behind the Sierra-Nevada Mountains, our car hobbled to a stop along the bare highway. The gas meter rang up on 'E', and a fire was dancing somewhere inside of our hood. Katell and I stumbled out, swaying in several directions dizzily, and stretched our legs, inspecting the damage.

3 tires were damaged, one beyond repair, the entire left side of the car was beaten to a pulp, and almost all of the windows were shattered. The back left door was on its hinges, and small bullet holes wounded the entire outlook.

"Not too shabby," commented Katell. I smiled, and looked over at her.

"Where did you learn how to use a sword? That was pretty cool. Even though you almost made me pee myself when you reached into my pockets."

She shrugged, and then rolled her eyes. "Beats me. Yeah, so a girl touching you scares you more than two monsters firing guns at you as you speed down the highway at two-hundred miles per hour? Don't see that every day."

I found myself laughing, despite how tired I was.

"I declare we make camp here for the night," I stated, realizing our car had already prepared a fire, "and then tomorrow we head out."

"And where, exactly, are we going?" Katell asked.

I yawned, and analyzed the western horizon. "Home. For you, anyways. But first we have to cross the mountains."

**Is it just me, or did I sound like the host of 'COPS' during the car chase scene? REVIEW PLEASE! And don't expect another chapter for awhile, something came up.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Okay, problem over, and I only have about 3 weeks until school starts again, and I somehow managed not to work on this at all...better get stepping. I think I can do it. One chapter a week. But if you want this finished, REVIEW! I got one! From Claire, who's a great reviewer and all, but seriously? Follow her example!**

No matter how you looked at it, we were pretty much forced to take a train. Taking a plain would mean Katell's death (therefore mine. Talk about paranoid parents?), and riding a boat would practically be suicide.

After a night of cold leftovers that had somehow survived the car chase incident, and uncomfortable sleep, Katell and I were our feet again, shuffling along the side of the highway.

"So what now, oh wise one?" Asked Katell sarcastically. I found myself smiling again.

"You really do remind me of a close friend," I told her. She blinked, and narrowed her eyes. So far, only one car, a convertible Lamborghini with hot pink 'Just Married' signs tattooed all over it, had passed. I still didn't have a thorough plan, because I needed to know more about the area first, so our first order of business was to locate some kind of gas station that could provide us with a map of some sort. Thick grey clouds cloaked the beautiful California sun.

"Gas station," I reminded her. She sighed.

"So who's this friend you keep speaking of?" She asked suddenly. How many times had I mentioned Moraphine?

"Well…she's pretty cool. And she's a red head." I said slowly. There was a long silence.

"…and that's it?"

I thought a little harder. "Pretty much, yeah. Icy blue eyes, too." I looked over my shoulder at her, and noticed that she was kicking a rock, apparently deep in thought.

"Cool," She said honestly. I clenched and unclenched my jaw a few times. "Did you guys meet at Camp?"

"Um…sort of," I responded. She looked up from her rock.

"Why aren't you at Camp, anyways?"

"Because someone had to come get you. Lucky me…"

She elbowed my back playfully. "But still, shouldn't you be training? Didn't you say satyrs usually recruited demigods?"

If it was possible to shift uncomfortably while walking, I did. "Yeah, they do, but I'm part of a...club."

I could feel her eyes bearing into the back of my head. "A club? Interesting…what's this club like, exactly?"

Just then, a car shot past us, with a huge gust of wind following it. I recognized the perfect opportunity to change the subject, and took it.

"Keep this up, and you'll be able to write a biography on me. Can I take a turn interrogating you?"

"Fine…" sighed Katell, "shoot away."

I'd already planned out exactly what questions I wanted to ask. "You said downtown Malibu's infested with monsters. Do you know from experience?"

She nodded, "Definitely. Plenty of Cyclopes, some even bigger than our pals back on the interstate, creepy snake women, and others…all I could do was toss rocks and run. On the bright side, I've probably got legs as strong as Usain Bolt's."

That's the spirit. "What about family? Other than Poseidon, of course."

Something flashed in her eyes again, and it looked like pain. Talking about parents was always tough for demigods.

"Well…I have a mom. Back in Malibu. We shared an apartment in downtown Malibu; just us. It was really nice, and my mom was super cool. But…then I aged, and more and more monsters would invade our house. It was ugly. I couldn't take it anymore…I'd almost killed her several times."

She took a deep shaky breath. "So I ran. I felt safe at the beach, so I stuck to it. That scorpion you saw was literally the only thing that _ever _attacked me there."

When she finished, a stale, awkward silence drifted in the air.

"Hey," I said suddenly, scaring myself and Katell, "check it out." On the horizon lay an old fashioned log cabin-style building with a vacant parking lot with two rusty orange gas pumps. It pretty much looked like a death trap for two demigods alone in the middle of nowhere.

As soon as we entered the building, a little silver bell on top of the door chimed half-heartedly. A squatty man, maybe in his late thirties or early forties, in a red flannel shirt with curly black hair jumped, and looked up dazedly from his magazine that had a picture of a car on it.

"Good morning!" He said ecstatically, leaping out of his seat. I froze. "Can I interest you two in some coffee? Fresh pot…sort of," he added, dumping out the coffee that was in the pitcher previously, and filling it with new water. I almost felt bad, he probably never got any business.

"Um, no thanks. You don't happen to have any maps, do you?" I asked. Katell had occupied herself by scanning the aisles for food we could stash in our pockets.

"Yeah," he answered with a lower voice. Apparently the excitement of having a customer was wearing off. "Right this way…"

He herded me to the left side of the store, and down a section next to a bunch of postcards reading 'Wish you were here!'.

"What kind are you looking for?"

"Just…an atlas I guess. Preferably pocket sized…?" I finished more like a question. He gave me a wary look.

"All right. Well, we don't have a pocket-sized atlas, but we do have a foldable road map."

"That would be perfect."

He still didn't look convinced, but he handed me a small, square piece of paper that had been laminated. Katell spewed out from the aisle next to us, and followed us back to the main counter. The bell chimed again, behind us, and a tall man with a beer-belly, overalls, and a scruffy beard stomped in.

"What is this, rush hour?" Mumbled the cashier under his breath as he tapped some buttons on the ancient-looking cash register. The new man strolled casually over to the canned foods section. Outside, a muddy Dodge was parked lazily in no particular parking spot, attached to a medium-sized steel trailer. A few raindrops fell abruptly.

"What do you need a road map for?" asked the cashier suddenly. I clenched my jaw a little, again. "You don't even have a car…"

"Oh, just for…hiking," I responded quickly, looking nervously around the store.

"Mm-hm," he muttered, sounding one-hundred percent unconvinced. "Where are each of your parents? I mean, I get a lot of young honeymooners, but you guys can't be that old…you barely look old enough to be dating!"

"No, we're, um, related," I declared, wrapping my arm around Katell's shoulder and probably blushing. He analyzed us disbelievingly. I couldn't blame him, considering the huge difference between her jet black hair and my golden blonde hair, or even her green eyes to my grey-brown ones.

"Now that I think about it…" he said, deep in thought, "I kind of recognize you two from somewhere. Were you guys on the news for something?"

My heart started racing. We couldn't pull this act up for long, and if he called the cops there was no way to beat them on foot.

The cashier inched closer to the phone. "Yeah…I think…I think you were the kids from that car chase…"

Katell slightly tapped my stomach with her elbow.

"Listen, I can't let you go until I have some parental verification," he proposed.

"Our parents?" I repeated, looking around wildly, "Our parents…our parents are-…"

"Right here," said a gruff voice from behind us. Katell, the cashier and I all wheeled around to stare at him. "I've been looking everywhere for you two. Your mother's worried sick…we'll be having a serious talk about this when we get home."

The man shoveled past us, and handed some dollar bills to the cashier who looked like he'd just been hit by lightning. I couldn't find in me to say a word.

"Come on…" The man ushered, holding open the door. Katell and I hustled out of there as quick as we could.

As soon as the door shut, the man turned to us, and analyzed us with pale blue eyes. "Do you two have a ride?"

My mouth was moving, but nothing came out. The man chuckled softly to himself. "Well I can arrange for that, too. Hop in." He said, pulling open the gates to his trailer, and patting it.

A million thoughts were racing through my head. The rain was falling a little harder, now, and the Sierra-Nevada Mountains loomed eerily in the distance.

I remembered how all of my teachers and 'parents' constantly reminded me not to take rides from strangers, but I was virtually left with two options. Either brave the rugged terrains against an unforgiving Mother Nature in the middle of a storm, or accept a ride from a complete stranger who could possibly turn into a monster at any moment.

"Deal," I finally said. Katell glanced at me with shock.

"Don't eat, drink, or try anything he tells you to, okay?" I muttered in her ear so lightly it wasn't audible. She simply nodded ever so slightly, and we piled in to the stranger's crowded trailer.

**I'm not sure if that particualr mountain range even goes that far south, but it does now. REVIEW! PLEASE!**


	20. Chapter 20

**I'm just giving up on asking for reviews. You guys just don't care! Enjoy!**

Rain pattered noisily off the steel cage of our trailer as we swayed left, and then right. I was thankful I'd made the wise choice not to accept any food from Katell during the ride, or else I'd probably be giving it right back to her.

The man had told us his name was Teddy, and he was trucking to Las Vegas, but he could drop us off in Arizona after we crossed through the mountains. He hadn't turned into a monster yet, so I figured I could trust him.

"I'll raise two potato chips and a pretzel…" Katell declared, sliding the food in between us, next to the kerosene lantern we'd discovered. At least three hours had passed, and it was getting dark out, but the lantern provided plenty of warmth and dim light. It was actually kind of cozy.

Currently, we were playing Texas Hold'em with some cards we'd stumbled upon, but I was wiping up the floor. I had a straight draw, but I figured she had one pair on the board, so I was tentative to call. I drew the final card, and tried not to frown. I looked at my cards again, and bet half of my stack. She stared wide eyed as I scooted 14 pretzels and 20 potato chips in front of me.

"Fold..." she mumbled, and handed me her cards. I grinned.

"How was that for a bluff?" I said loudly, and laughed. She rolled her eyes and looked at what was left of her chip count.

"Where did you learn how to play poker so good?" She asked, sounding a little annoyed.

"Where did I learn to play it so _well_," I corrected, handing her two cards, "and Hermes cabin. You have to get good when you play with those guys, and learn how to protect your stack."

She nodded, and went all in on the blind. She had no option. I called, and flattened out five cards. I only had one pair of kings, but it bested her pair of jokers, and I won my third straight game. I was still relieved I'd finally found someone who actually knew how to play.

"Wanna' play again?" I challenged, wafting the deck of cards in front of her. She grinned.

"No way. Too many shapes and numbers. I thought I left geology when I ran away."

Suddenly, the cage jerked around violently, and the wind picked up. I knew we were gaining altitude by the way my ears were popping. Slowly, I leaned against a box full of gardening tools, and stretched my legs. Riding uphill in a trailer without any seatbelts probably wasn't very safe, but I'd done plenty of things ten times more dangerous. Finally, the wind slowed to an even breeze again, and the rain pattered rhythmically on the roof.

"So tell me more about this club," Katell demanded. She was laying flat on her back, her head supported by a dirty jacket. Neither of us had showered for days, so it's not like she worried about getting her hair dirty.

I thought carefully about what to say. "Well…it's a volunteer thing," I started off with a lie, "and there's not a whole lot of kids doing it. Really we just get assigned places to go, and we rescue demigods."

I figured I hadn't gone too in-depth, but gave her enough to fill her appetite. Of course, she pushed me on.

"So, you just get to go all around the country on your own? No adults telling you what to do? Just hi-jacking cars and beating up monsters?"

Apparently I'd made my whole adventure seem more heroic than it actually was. Maybe I left out all the times Moraphine had to save my butt.

"Pretty much, yeah. But I don't recommend the whole hi-jacking part. Too much drama."

It was tough to see her face through the dim light provided by the lantern, but I could see the endless wonder in her eyes. I thought she was _finally _done with questions, but still she persisted.

"Is it more fun than Camp?"

Questions like that made everything come into perspective. I'd always hated Camp because I didn't feel accepted, but now I had a sense of freedom and belonging. I wasn't going to lie; being part of this society was the best thing that ever happened to me.

"Yes," I answered honestly. I don't know what it was about Katell, but I knew I could just trust her. She nodded, deep in thought.

For the next hour, we swapped stories of epic battles and heroic adventures, and shared my poker winnings as well as a few granola bars. I knew it was safe to start eating again when we stopped elevating. Our only visible window had fogged over, though, which meant it was cold out- something I wasn't used to, seeing that Helix persisted to place me in all of America's famous hot-spots. Literally.

Eventually, heavy bags formed under Katell's eyes, and I ordered her to get some sleep. Without protest, she scooted closer to our lantern for extra warmth, and curled up in a ball. I tilted my head back, and looked out the window. The clouds had parted for a moment, revealing the moon. For that moment, I felt safe and invincible.

I'm not sure when I fell asleep, but I bolted awake the moment bright summer light hammered my eyelids, realizing how dumb I was not to stay guard. When I realized there was no immediate damage, I settled back down a bit, and let my body shiver fervently with adrenaline.

"Bad dream?" Katell asked. Her voice scared me.

"Uh…no, just…scared myself for a moment," I responded, and then clenched my jaw. She stared at me for a moment, and went back to chewing her granola bar.

I could feel our trailer traveling on a flat surface, and there was activity outside. After twenty minutes of chatting with Katell, I convinced myself to eat, and reclined against a shelf full of tools.

"So once we ditch, where do we go?" wondered Katell after a pause of silence.

"Train station," I answered without hesitation. "There's no way one-hundred dollars will pay for two tickets clear to New York, though. Plus a cab to Camp…"

I thought I saw Katell bite her bottom lip nervously, but I didn't mind it much at the time. Just then, as if on cue, the vehicle rattled to a halt, and the engine died. The car door slammed, and there was a rhythmic pattern of thumps coming from steel-toed boots. I glanced reassuringly at Katell as someone fiddled with the lock to our trailer. My hand crept instinctively towards the Dawn Treader.

"Morning kids…" mumbled a groggy voice. White light flooded our trailer, and a wave of heat splashed in our faces. Once my eyes clearly adjusted, I could make out a crispy, dry landscape, as though we'd stopped on top of a burnt potato chip. Teddy's eyes were grey and sunken, like he'd had a bad day in centerfield.

"Mornin'," I replied, clambering awkwardly out of the cage. My legs felt like they were filled with pudding, and I had a sense of vertigo.

Katell stumbled out directly behind me, smiling at Teddy sweetly. We were parked in the corner of a hotel parking lot, disguised from entering cars by a row of brown trees. I stretched my back casually, and analyzed our surroundings. I estimated town to be about 3 miles away, which would feel like crawling to Jupiter in this weather, but I wasn't going to pester Teddy. He'd helped us out big time, and for no particular reason.

"Are you sure you kids are good?" Teddy asked, slurring most of his words. It made me wonder how long he'd been awake.

"Yep," Katell answered, "thanks a _ton."_

"Yeah…" I agreed. Teddy blinked in acknowledgement, and turned heel towards the hotel.

"Wait," I blurted out, startling myself. The whole blurting out thing is normal for ADHD kids, but it usually wasn't as bad on Athena kids. "Why did you help us?"

Teddy didn't even turn around. "I saw you two on the news, and I know exactly what you are. By the way, if you see Malcolm back at Camp, tell him I said 'hi'.

I'm not exactly sure how long I stood in one spot, gaping. Katell shifted her weight impatiently.

"Uh…who's Malcolm, again?" she asked. I swallowed, feeling a ball of dry air barrel down my throat.

"My cabin leader. He's a total jerk most of the time, and pretty much the whole reason I hate that place." I said, staring blindly into the desert through the trees. Oops.

"Wait, what?" mused Katell. "You hate Camp?"

"Um…" I started geniusly.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You…ask a lot of questions."

She stared deep into my eyes for a moment, and I could feel myself sweating. Not from the heat, though.

"Wow," muttered Katell under her breath.

"Hey, listen," I started, desperate to change the subject, "as much as I'd love to chill in this heat, I think we need to board the next train.

After a weak protest, we chartered off towards the nearest road, and hiked towards town which was only actually 2 miles away. Great, now we only had to crawl to Mars. Katell refused to drop the subject of me hating Camp. I didn't know why it bothered her so much, even if I had been spending the past two days explaining to her how great it was supposed to be.

After what felt like days walking through an oven, I gave up braving out the heat, and tied my shirt around my head. It sort of worked as a sweat band, and kept my shaggy hair from getting in my line of sight. It also helped my body cool off.

"Yikes," Katell commented, ruining the silence, and continued staring at my stomach. Something was telling me she wasn't referring to my rippling abdominal muscles. "How did you get that one?"

"Oh," I said, a little discouraged. I rubbed my scar gently. "The Grim Reaper's scythe on his cruise ship. I thought I told you that story already? With Moraphine? And Lynrd?"

She giggled. "Oh yeah. Well it doesn't look too bad anymore. Look, it's already scar tissue."

"Yep…" I said, smiling. She read my emotions quickly.

"What, you know that song?" She asked.

"Of course!" I responded, "Who doesn't?"

"Amen…" She agreed. "Best band ever."

Suddenly, memories of Chevy Silveradoes, Moraphine, and midnight drives on the East Coast came rushing back.

"Cade…?" Katell said, snapping me back to reality. I must've spaced out longer than I thought. When I glanced back at her, she pointed ahead of us. "Town."

**You know what I realized today? Rainy, stormy weather makes me want Mexican food. I noticed that in the past whenever I've enjoyed Mexican food, it was raining. And it happened to be raining today, and I felt like eating Mexican. Sometimes it makes me want to write, too. Anyways, REVIEW! (I lied)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Here's some action for you guys. This chapter feels rushed to me, but when you write these things with the schedule I have, they just need to be that way sometimes. And there was lots of reviews last chapter. I didn't think it was that great of a chapter...but thank you!**

I'm not going to lie, the air conditioning inside of the Kingman, Arizona train station felt like Elysium in a can. The depot was shaped like a Cathedral, but made of light sandstone, and supported by pillars as old as Hercules. Part of me was scared the roof was going to collapse, but the last thing I was willing to do was leave.

Fifty bucks a piece was enough for a low-class ride to Albuquerque, New Mexico. From there I'd have to figure out what to do, because we would need the remaining twenty or so for food.

"This is kinda' like a vacation," noted Katell, "only, you know, more dangerous."

"Yeah," I agreed, "and how far do you think news of our little escapade in Malibu has reached?"

She flashed me a smile, which made me smile, too. Of course, on the inside I was completely on edge. We'd gone two days without a monster encounter, and that was usually a really bad sign for demigods.

"Train 721, classes A and B, you may now begin the boarding process…" a monotonous woman's voice called over an ancient PA system, sending me bad memories of airports and ladies with peanuts. Two people rose out of their seats with briefcases and walked towards the back door, where a train that looked somehow old, but still modern enough to be considered normal lay. It was mostly black with red and green paint designs postered along the boxcars.

"Classes C and D…" continued the woman behind the PA system. No one rose this time. "And finally, E and F."

"Great…" muttered Katell as we rose out of our seats.

"Dibs on top bunk," I called.

"Hey, Katell? Check this out," I said, motioning her towards the paper I was holding. The train had been chugging along for nearly an hour, passing rolling hills of cactuses. Our cart was tiny, complimented by two large windows, a table, and a row of bunks built into the wall that reminded me of a military bunker. I figured we would be in Albuquerque by bedtime, though. The only overly-impressive feature of our ride was the fact that it came with a complimentary newspaper. It was nice, even though I had no idea who Barack Obama was. Katell had occupied herself with the comics.

"Yeah?"

"It's July 3rd. Think they'll have firework stands in New Mexico?"

To my surprise, the train _did_ take longer than an afternoon to make it to Albuquerque, but I was still deprived of any sleep because of the way the train rumbled around. Somewhere around one in the morning, the train stopped all together and had a two hour maintenance layover, and after that, it didn't quite ride as fast.

The next day, the sun was up and shining (was it ever not in this place?), and the smell of barbeque lingered in the air. I could tell we were nearing Albuquerque because more and more houses started popping up, but then dissipating only to reveal more desert.

Katell had disappeared into the bathroom to give herself a sink shower, which probably wasn't a bad idea, so I was left alone in our room watching landscape roll bye. A lot of the houses had big American flags draped around them. Back at Camp, there was always a huge firework show on the Fourth of July that couldn't be compared to, and was mostly just a big social get-together. I was kind of sad to be missing it this year, but I had business to take care of.

Slowly, a tiny town faded into the background, and desert continued rolling by. Every now and then, we'd meet up with a river, but I hadn't seen it since last night.

I felt like a cartoon character driving away, with the same background image repeating itself in front of me. After a while, my eyelids started roping, and I let myself fall asleep. And that's when something very strange caught my eyes.

Horns. That was the first thing that caught my attention. And whatever it was, it was moving fast. My eyes shot open, and I leaned closer to the window, looking for whatever it was we'd passed, but I couldn't find it again. A feeling of dread started leaking into my stomach, and slowly overwhelmed my entire body.

Long after we'd arrived in the large, bustling city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, I still couldn't shake the feeling that someone- or something- was following us.

All of the shops and houses in the city were decked with red, white, and blue and the city itself seemed alight with excitement. Part of me longed to get into the holiday spirit, but I couldn't bring myself to it.

The heat was pretty bad, but nothing compared to Arizona. The city almost seemed to be built into a steep hillside, and I could swear a bobcat had strolled right down the street. The pollution was at an all time minimum for major American cities. Well, until tonight, I figured.

After a long stroll around the town, I was getting tired of the sight-seeing, and was desperate to find a way back to New York. At a souvenir shop, a younger woman gave us directions to a train station just outside the main part of the city, and I headed there without hesitation.

"Why are you so on-edge all the sudden?" Katell huffed, sprinting to catch up with my fast-walk.

I blinked. "Well, I saw something outside of our train earlier, and it didn't look…human. It's creeping me out."

She rolled her eyes. "It's the Fourth of July, dude. All kinds of crazy stuff is going on."

Of course, that didn't help at all.

"How about we get some fireworks," she continued, "and get in the spirit."

I clenched my jaw, and thought that idea out carefully. "Fine," I agreed slowly, "but we're finding the train station first. And if something eats us, I'm blaming you."

She smiled. "That's the spirit."

After some hiking through winding New Mexico streets, we poured out on top of a steep hillside, where we were met by more desert, and a few pre-layed out hiking trails. It was mid-afternoon, and the traffic inside of the city had halted. By now, my legs had completely adjusted to hiking, so this was a walk in the park.

Katell had clambered on top of a big brown rock to get a better view of the landscape, and I was left at the bottom, waiting impatiently. My anxiety hadn't shrunken any. In fact, it grew.

"Katell? Hurry it up, this place is giving me the creeps," I called, even though we were all alone- except for shrubs , rocks, and a few cactuses.

"If you say so…" She muttered, clambering back down the stone, "I'm pretty sure the train station is just ahead, close enough, next to a dirt road. And there's a firework stand, like, right below us.

I found this odd, but didn't question it. Suddenly, I spotted movement from behind us, and shuffling in the grass. Katell didn't pick it up, but in one second flat, I whipped out the Dawn Treader and had it ready to fight. She jumped back and screamed a little when I unleashed my weapon. I was shaking with adrenaline.

"Oh my _gods, _Cade! Cool it!' Katell screamed, I felt my face growing red. "There is _nothing _after us!"

As if on cue, there was a louder shuffling, and a very soft growling noise. I did a 360 to analyze the area around us. More shuffling- only this time, more like stomping, and a full on roar. I'd been afraid of monsters before, but this one really took the prize for scariest entry. Katell slowly picked up a rock behind me.

"This is not good," she whispered, shaking. What gave you that idea?

In a matter of second, an ear-shattering roar surfaced, and a great beast- the same exact one I'd seen in the train- erupted out from behind the rock Katell was just standing on. Its blood-spattered bull-head and furry, ripped upper-body gave way to a pair of Schwarzenegger-like legs. It had eggshell horns as sharp as swords, and probably five times as powerful.

I'd heard myths about Perseus Jackson slaying the Minotaur twice, and I figured it would take longer than eight years for it to fully recover. The beast's yellow eyes were alight with red fire, and his hands curled around a double-sided axe. With one more mighty roar, the minotaur bulleted towards us, horns down.

I yipped bravely, and rolled out the way, holding up my sword menacingly. It probably looked like a toothpick to this thing. He snorted, swiveling his head around in all directions, taking a big whiff of the air. I knew from plenty of lessons at Camp that this monster in particular had terrible eye sight.

Not to my surprise, he turned to Katell and roared, kicking up dirt as he charged. I couldn't see Katell herself, but a rock _did_ come into view, and beaned the beast right in the face. He staggered slightly, and huffed in pain. Katell read the hesitation, and sprinted around to my side. The beast continued in her old direction, but took a whiff of air, spun around, and roared in frustration. I got to my feet shakily as he charged, and positioned my arms out wards in a flailing position. The beast trampled in, and I jerked away at the last second, spinning around and letting my sword build momentum. There was a mighty slice, and the bull-man wailed, flinging his beefy arm backwards, and crashing it right into my unprotected side. I would have lie in the ground, waiting for my death, but the Minotaur's charge was seized by another rock from behind.

He swung his head around wildly, adjusting his ears to pick up Katell, but she'd already crash-landed to my side. "There's no way we can beat this thing," she whispered in a panic. The Minotaur picked up the sound of her voice, and put his horns down again. Together, we scrambled awkwardly onto our feet, and dashed behind the nearest boulder. I knew Katell was right, but I refused to accept it. My brain worked furiously, leafing through idea after idea. That's when it hit me.

"It can't see us," I explained, while shuffling around the boulder some more to avoid the monster. I could smell his breath from the other side of the rock. "So we have to eliminate his senses of hearing and smell. But how do we do that?"

The beast roared again mightily, and erupted into view. I took a wild step forward, and swung my sword again, but the Minotaur saw it coming (sort of), and dodged easily. He pulled down his axe hard, but I leaped away, leaving his axe to shatter the Earth below. I half-expected a gaping hole to Tartarus appear.

"Fireworks!" Katell shouted, charging off behind the large rock.

"I know you want to celebrate, but this is NOT THE TIME!" I yelled, getting to my feet to face the Minotaur's next attack. He swung his axe sideways, and I spun out of the way, attempting a stab, but my tiny sword fell short. The Minotaur slammed forward with his head, and hit me, bull's-eye. Literally. His horns missed me by half an inch.

When I hit the ground, I hacked up a wad of blood, and I went into vertigo for a moment. I pulled myself together just in time to avoid being minced by his axe. With no choices left I retreated after Katell, who had ripped a whole in the side of a closed Fat City firework stand.

"What are you doing?" I huffed, storming down the hill. The Minotaur was hot on my tail, nearly an axe length away.

"Duck!" Katell responded, hurling a small purple ball over my head. My first instinct was to look for a duck, but somehow, I tripped on a rock, and face planted into the dirt. I jolted to my feet just in time to watch the Minotaur take a big whiff of purple smoke bomb. I stumbled blankly down the hill, where I met up with Katell.

"What in Athena's name are you doing?" I repeated.

"Eliminating his final two senses," She responded, handing me a lighter. "Now stock up."

It was ingenious. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it. Without hesitation, I shoved my pocket full of the noisiest, smokiest substances in sight.

Suddenly, there was a roar, and a crash, as the Minotaur's axe slashed the main side of the stand, and sent the whole thing toppling down. If possible, his eyes looked even redder.

"Come on!" I shouted, leading Katell out of the back, scooping up fireworks as we ran. If my new plan were to work successfully, we needed lots of big rocks.

The beast lumbered after us swiftly, occasionally lowering his horns, or swinging his axe. I lit a war eagle on the run, and pitched it backwards blindly. There were bright sparks and an ear-piercing screech, and the Minotaur halted, immobile by the firework. Katell and I each chucked more smoke bombs, spinners, and war eagles.

The Minotaur roared, virtually blinded, but still charged after us. I was drenched in my own blood, and probably looked pretty ferocious to a mortal's eyes.

"Dive," I commanded, leaping behind the nearest stone. The Minotaur roared bravely, and slammed into the face of the rock, just as I'd expected.

Quickly, Katell and I got our feet, and reversed direction, towards another rock. Katell hurled more smoke bombs in his direction. "Hey beefy! How many times do we have to kill you before you get the hint?"

He roared, and charged towards the sound, his sense of smell blanketed by the smoke. I slid behind the wall of stone, and listened to the blood-piercing sound of bone cracking against the rock. I launched another war eagle over my shoulder, World War II style, and lingered away, leading Katell towards another rock. Who says you can't be patriotic while fighting monsters?

Katell placed a few more spinners and smoke bombs strategically, and watched the smoke and color spectrum light the earth. I heard the sound of heavy shuffling approach, and we took our position again.

"Hey, pot roast!" I called, "I know cows with horns bigger than those!" Katell gave me a sidelong glance.

There was a faster shuffling, and I peered over the edge of our rock. The Minotaur was spattered in maroon-colored blood, and his eyes and nose were puffy. His horns were cracked, and one of them dangled loosely over his head. Some of his features seemed distorted. He wheezed heavily, but determined, he prepared himself to charge. It almost looked…sad.

_ROAR!_

With whatever strength he had left, the beast charged through the yellow smoke. A war eagle whistled menacingly in the background, and the bull-man thundered toward us. I swallowed, and ducked behind the boulder.

The world seemed to freeze, and everything fell into slow motion. There was a loud _boom_, and I was lunged forward by the force, shards of rock showering the air above me. The beast wailed in pain, crumpling to the ground. His horn was dislodged, and many of his body parts were hyper-extended at strange angles. Blood gushed out of many wounds.

Slowly, Katell and I approached it, taking in what we had done. Golden specks of dust slowly sputtered off of it.

"Come on," I said between breaths, "just let it die."

Katell glared at me. "You just want to let it suffer after all we've put it through?"

"…yeah."

She gritted her teeth, and picked up a heavy-looking rock. With one harsh bash, and a delighted whimper, the beast dissolved into yellow dust, and flew away into the smoke-stained sky.

"Have you had enough fireworks?" I asked as she limped towards me. She nodded, looking solemn. That's when I remembered that was probably her first kill. "Come on," I finished, "we have a train to catch."

**I repeated a lot of words this chapter, I noticed. Review! Oh yeah, for me school starts next week, which is when this story needs to be finished. So expect a lot of chapters in a little amount of time.**


	22. Chapter 22

**My goal was to get that last chapter up on the Fourth of July. Im just a bit off schedule...**

**Also, I was asked by somebody to introduce more creative characters. I think it's a little late in the story to introduce more characters...**

"…and then Katell bashed its head with a rock, and that's how it died," I finished, out of breath. Helix just nodded.

Sneaking onto the train was easy, especially in the dead of night, but it still felt like something was missing. Maybe it was the fact that we didn't get any help from mischievous teenage zombies.

"And when do you expect to be here?" Helix continued. I'd already blown through three drakmas to relay all the details about my flight, rescuing Katell (sort of. I left out the whole Poseidon thing), and finally the Minotaur incident. Part of me expected him to be proud of me for defeating the Minotaur, but he would simply nod. He looked like he'd spent a week sleeping in Tartarus.

"Um…maybe six or seven days," I replied. When I said it, there was a flash of something in his sunken, baggy eyes, and it wasn't happiness.

"All right. I'm sure Katell will get right along at Camp. I've been getting loads of demigods recently. Katell will be my 75th demigod of all time, if you beat Zane. He and Moraphine had a little run-in with a basilisk, and apparently Zane fought it out with some nifty flying skills," He finished, scratching his pale face. The transmission started going fuzzy.

"That's good," I said, hoping to end it on that, but a sudden question burned into my brain. "Wait, why haven't I ever met any of these demigods you guys have rescued over the years? I've been at Camp forever, and I've never even heard rumors of you guys…"

The same emotion I saw before flashed in Helix's eyes. "Oh, they're there…" he assured me, "maybe they just know how to keep a proper secret."

And with that, the transmission fuzzed over, and I ran my hand through the screen.

"_That_ was Helix?" Katell wondered, watching the entire conversation past the corner of the screen.

I clenched my jaw. "Yeah…normally he's a little less…depressed…" My voice trailed off. I had the nagging feeling something wasn't right, but I shoved my hunch into the back of my brain.

"I'm starving," I declared, changing the subject, "how much food did you nab before we snuck on?"

Even though sneaking onto a train in the dead of night, hiding occasionally to obscure the vision of attendants sounds like a lot of fun, it's actually pretty over-rated.

Our cabin was lower-class (if possible) than our last train, and it didn't even come with a free newspaper. It contained the same military-style barracks, and a miniature wooden table built into the wall directly under the single window. There was a bathroom area in the next car over, which was where I managed to contact Helix.

The desert had mostly vanquished, and was replaced with flatter landscape and rolling fields of golden wheat. I figured we were probably crossing the Oklahoma/Kansas border area. I was impressed by how much distance this train was gaining compared to the last train in just one day.

"Hey," Katell said quietly, pulling up next to me at the table. It was impossible not to bump elbows when two people were using it for an armrest. "What's up?"

I looked from the window into her green eyes. "Just checkin' stuff out. You come over for a reason?"

She shook her head. "Just wanted to see how you were doing."

I noticed she'd changed clothes recently, but I didn't really care to ask where she got them. I figured my clothes looked like armor made out of mud, stained with fireworks.

"Oh," I responded. There was silence. Katell looked away for a moment. "Is something bothering you?" I guessed, trying to hold up the conversation.

"Nope," she replied quickly.

"Okay, goo-…"  
"Well, actually…I was thinking…"

"Okay, fire away…" I said under my breath.

She thought for a moment. "Nah. Never mind."

I blinked. "Okay, cool."

"So…what year did you come to Camp, exactly?"

I leaned back in my chair, because making contact with her felt pretty uncomfortable.

"Uh…'03. Same year that 'By The Way' came out," I added, trying to build on the one thing we had in common- our favorite band.

She smiled. "Have you even heard of Stadium Arcadium?"

I thought for a moment, suddenly excited. "Something to do with the song Snow? It won a bunch of awards?"

She nodded. "Two CDs jammed with songs. None as cool as their '90's stuff, but Frusciante really shows off his talent…"

We continued talking about music and other things for what felt like hours, until the sun dipped below the horizon, and my eyes began to droop. It was actually kind of nice. It brought back old memories of being on the run with Moraphine. I found it hard to believe I'd only been in this business just over a month.

The days refused to pass any faster. The train made a stop in Topeka, Kansas, where a bunch of people left, and more came on, noticeably paler than those from New Mexico.

Katell and I had to hide in the bathroom while attendants came through. Silently, I thanked the gods that they weren't checking for tickets.

Eventually, the train slowly chugged out of Topeka, and I was met with more rural prairies, draped with greenish-grey clouds. I could've really gone without a tornado, especially after all the hype about Typhon not-too-long ago. I did see the funnel cloud make touchdown, but it dissipated quickly.

Night would come, and Katell would talk in her sleep, silently panicking. I tried to comfort her, but the instant I touched her she shouldered me so hard I stumbled back into the table.

After three days of mind-bending boredom, the train halted in Indianapolis. I'm sure the train ride would be pretty fun if we weren't forced to stay cooped up inside of one boxcar with nothing but the clothes on our back and a couple deadly weapons.

The land got a little more uneven and a little greener and we even managed to sneak by a few rivers. Katell continued to bother me about the society, and I didn't even hesitate to answer her questions anymore.

Finally, on the sixth day of travel, after hours of contemplating suicide, the train slid into Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and New York was the next location.

That night, I lay in bed staring at the ceiling for hours, thinking about what it would be like to be back home in New York. Home…

Without even knowing it, I fell asleep, like a kid on Christmas Eve.

"Everything's in place, my lord," the robed figure stated, kneeling before Hades, who looked unnaturally happy, if that was even possible. The orange fire that lit up Hades's sky was blood-red, and swirling like a hurricane.

"Good. A few days ahead of schedule…you have served me well, General," Hades seethed, "which is why I ask you, alone, to lead my army into battle."

The robed figure froze. "M-me? But lord…"

"You have proved yourself worthy. Now go! Rally your army!"

The figure trotted away, an aura of happiness surrounding him. Leading the army of the dead didn't exactly fit my description of fun.

"Cade!" Hissed a voice off in the distance. Something was tugging my arm mercilessly.

"Wha-?" I mumbled, waking in a cold sweat. Katell was eyeing me suspiciously.

"You were talking in your sleep. What's going on? Who's attacking?"

I glanced around our car wearily. The train had stopped moving, and the outside was bustling with activity.

"Oh, nothing…" I lied, "just a nightmare."

Katell looked at me disbelievingly. "All right…either way, I had to get you up. It's time to go," she finished, pointing out the window, where a golden sign reading 'Grand Central Terminal' was apparent through the darkness. Slowly, I rose out of bed, not knowing how to feel.

**I'm pretty sure a train ride that distance doesn't take as long as it did in this chapter...but just like the mountain range- it does now. Review! 4 more chapters.**


	23. Chapter 23

**I'm a little dissapointed. I had one chapter with a ton of reviews, and then, like, one. My original review goal was 400, which was when I had 43 chapters planned, but I cut it drastically, and put it down to 220. Then I started writing seriously this summer...I'll be happy to finish with 130. Enjoy. Kind of a dark little chapter.**

When you've lived in one place for so long, taking a trip across town can feel like vacationing to a whole other country. So to me, leaving New York felt like traveling to another planet. And my arrival back on Earth wasn't quite how I pictured it…

They call New York "the city that never sleeps" for a reason, and that's because if you were to walk around town at 3:30 in the morning, there would be so many lights and so many people, you'd think it was still mid afternoon. But now in the darkness of four o' clock AM, the place seemed completely abandoned. Though it was hard to tell, it seemed like thick black clouds had blanketed the sky, and everything stood still. Like the whole world was holding its breath.

"The pictures really don't do this place justice…" noted Katell, obviously as nervous as I was.

"It's usually not like this. I mean, seriously," I responded.

"Maybe everyone's just…hung-over?"

"Haha. Good one."

We continued our stroll through Manhattan, mostly in silence. Our goal was to find a cab, which usually wasn't a problem- even at four in the morning –but for whatever reason, there wasn't even a _car _in sight. It was almost…eerie. I found myself hoping to find a vendor, or a business man, or a mobbie or _something._ The voice in the back of m head kept referring to the date mentioned in my dreams.

_It was just a dream,_ I reminded myself, fiddling around with the Dawn Treader in my pocket. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Which direction is Camp?" asked Katell, "Maybe we could, like, walk towards it, and try to hitch a ride or something." I looked towards the east, towards Long Island, and noticed a reddish tint in storm clouds in that direction. Probably just the storm parting over Camp…

After what seemed like a century walking soundlessly through the pitch black mess of Manhattan, Katell broke the silence.

"So do you think I'll…fit in at Camp? I'm not used to hanging around with a lot of other people. Or, you know, sleeping on beds."

"I'm sure you'll do just fine. I mean, you've had experience with monsters, and most of the others haven't. That'll give you, like, a huge boost in sword fighting classes and stuff."

I couldn't see her face in the dark, but I could almost feel her concern. We continued our walk at a brisk pace.

After a while, the sky lightened up a little bit, or maybe my eyes had adjusted to the darkness. Either way, I had a better view of our surroundings. At some points, I noticed mortals rushing to get where they were going, with scared expressions on their face, as if they wanted to hide. There still weren't many cars out, but the familiar view of a classic yellow taxi cab pushed its way into view, and I sprinted down the road to catch it. Katell seemed to be in no hurry to leave.

"Ah…where you guys headed?" Asked the driver. For once, he seemed normal. Buzz cut, brown eyes, reminiscent of Jason Statham somehow. I could tell he was scared or confused, and I couldn't blame him. I'd be scared to if I woke up for work and discovered New York must've been secretly nuked over night.

"Northeast Long Island" I informed him, holding the door open for Katell, and sliding her what remained of my money, and the change we'd manage to scrape up over the voyage. It still wasn't enough, but the cabbie didn't say a word. Katell slid into her seat and gave another meaningful glance. I hated to admit it, but I was sad. It was like saying good bye to Moraphine all over again.

"Uh…have fun," I commanded. She surpressed a smile. And just when she was about to close the door, she froze.

"Hey Cade? I've been thinking lately…"

Kind of a strange spot to share feelings, but I stayed anyways. "…and?"

"Well…I…I want to join the society," she blurted. My heart skipped a couple beats.

The number one rule. One of very few rules this thing had, and I shattered it completely. I'd given Katell an in-depth description of the Society.

"Um," I responded wisely.

"Please? You make Camp sound so terrible! I'd rather be out in the free world, with you, killing monsters and saving demigods."

The driver gave me a strange look from the rearview mirror.

"That's…not up to me. That's for Helix to deal with."

Katell's gaze shifted downwards, until her whole body looked slumped. It was kind of a sad sight. Just then, freezing rain started pounding out of the sky, impaling my skin like miniature daggers, like Poseidon was instant messaging me, reminding me that I was on his hit list if his daughter were unhappy about anything.

"Ah, tell you what. Ouch. Um…don't tell Helix, but you are now part of the club. Ow."

She perked up instantly. "Really? No oath or anything?" The rain eased a little.

"Raise you right hand," I continued. She followed my directions enthusiastically, "repeat after me."

She looked at me expectantly.

"You, Katell…"

"You, Katell…"

"No, you like 'I'."

"No, you like 'I'."

I made a disgruntled sighing sound. "Tell you what, just don't do anything stupid."

And with that, I slammed her door shut, leaving her confused, while I stood alone in the rain and thunder, not knowing how to feel.

As the morning pressed on, it gradually got lighter, but it still seemed dark and dreary, and thunder rumbled loudly as though Zeus himself was upset about something. I found myself wandering aimlessly through the streets of Manhattan, kicking garbage, and worrying in solitude. It felt weird to be on my own, but I had so many mixed emotions that that was the least of my worries.

After a while I ventured back to the rundown neighborhood outside the mainland where I'd encountered a fury what seemed like years ago.

I sighed, and stared up into the sky, looking for answers. But to what? My mind and heart were racing each other.

Without warning, I jolted back in time to all those times at Camp where I was actually enjoying myself, feeling involved, but never accepted. And to the society. Helix, Moraphine…my friends. Even Toby, and Brock, and Zane. I'd never felt so happy. I also remembered my dreams, and all the things that threatened the future of those things…  
But there was a fog, thicker than that which surrounded me physically, and it surrounded my memories. For non reason, I suddenly felt weak and scared.

I dragged my feet slowly across the brick road through the rain until I was under the protection of an overlaying roof. And I was alone.

Without thinking, I pulled out the Dawn Treader, unleashing the blade, and letting it bask in the atmosphere.

_The light that treads the dawn is the strongest._

As if on cue, the darkness ceased, and the early morning sun leached through, brightening me and my surroundings temporarily. The light reflected off my blade with an intense flash, and then everything slid back into darkness.

That's when a rare thought entered my mind without warning. What if my dreams _were _right? What if I was being warned of something to come…

I looked towards the east again, where the storm clouds with a rusty tint seemed to be gyrating over Long Island like a hurricane.

I looked back down at my sword.

_The light that treads the dawn is the strongest._

I've never really been one hundred percent sure about anything I've done in my life. But in that moment, I was sure about a couple things.

I'd been warned, and I was needed.

_The light that treads the dawn is the strongest._

_I _was the Dawn Treader.

** Ah, haha, the title. Review, PLEASE. And be prepared for a freakin' huge climax chapter. Time for some big action! REVIEW!**


	24. Chapter 24

**I've written a lot of FanFiction capters, and quite a few climaxes, but it seems like they have nothing on this. It's almost like the climax of my writing career.**

**Anyways, this chapter is a LONG one. Over 6,000 words written with a lot of effort over a span of 6 days. And there's a place sort of in the middle where I thought about cutting the chapter in half and making it two seperate chapters...but the length keeps suspense, and interest. Lots of action. Do your best to imagine all of the fight scenes as if it were a movie, it makes so much more awesome. Enjoy the climax.**

The instant I started my mad-dash up Half Blood Hill, I could tell my assistance probably would've come in handy several hours ago. Of course, the half an hour I spent barreling across the state of New York at 120 MPH with a cabbie at sword point probably didn't help matters much. The minute he pulled to a stop, I snatched a business card and reminded him what exactly would happen if he even thought about dialing '911'.

I also noticed that whatever had invaded Camp did not want any back-up making their way in. lines of the biggest, meanest brutes you'd ever dream of dotted the crest of the hill, all dressed up in dark armor. Only, these weren't like the normal monsters you'd find on a good night in any American city, they were somehow _scarier. _Almost transparent, like you couldn't even make out what they were unless you spotted them out of the corner of your eye. Rain drained out of the sky relentlessly like tiny shards of ice, and natural lightning sparked every now and then, offering the majority of light. You could hear the drone of battle clear from New Jersey.

The pure adrenaline boost that a demigod gets when face-to-face with the enemy is unmatchable, though, and probably the only reason we live half of the time- which came in real handy right about now.

My goal was to arch around the hill to avoid my welcome home party, but of course, a few slithering dracaena with crackling spears, an ugly brute with half a body shaped like a massive black bull and the other half a fat diamondback rattler that I somehow identified as a 'Tauros Ophis', and a rhino-man that I couldn't even put a name to snuffed me out. Usually, this meant a quick death for a lone demigod out in the wild, but in the heat of battle, I was quick to tackle the rhino man head on, running the Dawn Treader through his knee with a disgruntled roar, and watch him tumble onto a defenseless snake woman. They vanished together in a poof of golden dust.

With the remainder of my sword's momentum, I skinned the side of the charging bull-serpent, which snorted indignantly, and rattled its tail, putting its head down for the charge. On my blind side, the second dracaena advanced swiftly, and in one swift motion my mind, like clockwork, sprouted a strategy and put it into play. I cut backwards like an NFL wide receiver, as the bull serpent stormed- well, slithered I guess –into the lap of the snake woman. They hit the ground, both badly injured, but with a graceful slice by the Dawn Treader, their misery ended.

I didn't even hesitate to seize my moment to cross the border before any of their border patrol buddies came to the rescue. But the instant I did, I regretted it.

The Camp was obviously surprise attacked. Demigods were fighting hordes of zomibfied beasts, warriors, mortals- you name it –in their pajamas. Bloody lumps of bodies littered the floor, and I knew I could probably put a name to every last one of them. Cabins and amphitheatres were being ransacked, thick black smoke curling up evilly into the sky. Thunder rumbled dramatically in the distance. It looked the exact opposite of what it had just over a month ago.

_WOOF!_

My moment of shock was interrupted by the advancement of a muscular dog the size of a Saint Bernard, snout and pelt matted with blood. The dog's eyes were pale and distraught, as though it were being hypnotized. Not something you'd want your children to pet. Laelaps, I noted. Of course it was never so…evil in the myths. _ARF!_

I hurdled the monster, simultaneously building momentum with my sword. As it charged between my legs, it leaped, missing my foot by an inch. Upon landing, both of us spun around to face each other. This thing was designed by the gods to _never_ miss its target, which was bad news for me. There was no way to run from this thing. As it charged again, I swung my sword, and bent backwards Matrix-style, letting hit the ground in pain. And for a second, its eyes averted back to a natural golden color. As soon as it hit the floor, its eyes changed back, and it bared its fangs. I clenched my jaw, and continued circling my sword like I was winding up for a pitch in an old-fashioned cartoon. It leaped again, and I fell to my knees, stabbing its belly, and getting squirted with hot doggy-blood. It hit the ground hard, and howled in pain, the gold flooding back into his eyes. I had no time to stop fret over the fact that I just killed one of the gods' dogs, though, and one that wasn't even supposed to be evil.

I was ready to continue my charge into the clearing, but something, or _someone, _caught my attention.

"Hey! Cade!" Yelled a familiar voice over the battle.

"…Zane?" I asked.

"No, Patrick Swayzee…where've you been? You've missed all the fun!"

"Fun?" I almost screamed. Zane seemed unnaturally happy for someone beaten to a pulp. And for, well, Zane. "What the Hades is going on here?"

"Well, I'd say…ah…Hades," he answered, pointing to a massive, ghastly green shimmering monster in the sky twice the size of Air Force One. It spit out wisps of shadowy fire, and mowed down lines of retreating half-bloods. A zomibfied version of the Phoenix.

So I was being warned, all along…

Just then, a pair of arrows from opposite direction came whizzing past both of our head, and we both took cover.

"Over here!" commanded Zane, army crawling over to a nearby boulder jutting out of the ground. Nothing much, but enough.

"Take it from the top, quickly!" I ordered, ducking to avoid being stuck by a flaming javelin. Zane sprouted a wicked grin.

"It's Helix, man."

My heart leaped off a cliff. "…w-what?"

"It's Helix! I knew it…you can never trust a good leader…"

"What are talking about?"

"Helix's been playing us like puppets! This whole time, he was just waiting…waiting for that perfect opportunity…"

Until someone you barely know send you a text explaining that they just ran over your dog, you have no idea what kind of shock and pain overwhelms your body when someone you thought you could trust with your life turns out to be the one who wants to end it. The cry of battle was muted, and right then, nothing seemed to matter.

I was trapped on an island, completely lost and hopeless.

"His plan was ingenious…" Zane continued, obviously thrilled, though I was barely processing what he was saying. "He snuck in here completely under the radar, and had the camp surrounded. Monsters came from all angles, took everyone off guard. From there he took it strategically, flying in recruitments at different times from places you'd never look…"

By now, my senses started returning, replacing all my feelings of shock with those of anger. I knew I recognized the voice of that robed figure…it was Helix all along. Helix, general of Hades' Army. And the whole time I thought…I thought…

"Where is he?' I seethed finally. The blaze of Greek fire erupted somewhere near us, and lightning struck hard. Everything came into perspective. The frantic cries of draiads fleeing their burning forest souls, the toppling of highly-flammable Demeter cabin in the distance, a daughter of Aphrodite fighting off a massive zombie-boar with her teddy bear. A very familiar boar…

"Where is he?" I repeated loudly, my stomach completely ablaze with internal fire.

"I dunno'. He's gotta' be somewhere he has a visual of the entire battle field, he's been coordinating this thing the whole time."

The instance the words left his mouth, I leaped off my feet, barely missing being hit by a poisonous arrow. Several monsters who were left with nothing to do noticed and charged at me; a few more rhino-men, two bulky ancient Greek and Roman warriors, and a couple confused looking mortals in Hawaiian T-shirts holding sticks. As soon as they converged over my body, though, they were as good as dead. With a momentous spin, and a quick chop, a rhino man lay moaning on the ground, flaking off golden dust. Meanwhile, I took full advantage of my anger-boost by snatching the hilt of the Roman warrior's spear, and yanking him right into the butt of the Dawn Treader. In one swift motion, I stuck the spear into the ground, and pole vaulted myself right into the Grecian's face. I barely missed being javelined like a fish, but I managed to dive tackle him, and knock him into unconsciousness easily. The mortals both dove on me like I was a penny in the middle of a hobo-expo, but I knocked them out with a hefty kick, and a sharp jab of the elbow. They were in easy position to kill, now, but I couldn't bring myself to that to a mortal…

I knew precisely where I was going, and whatever got in my way was knocked down one by one, like dominoes. Thunder crackled, and rain continued to flood the battlefield. In my rage, I pretended not to notice all the demigods dropping like flies around me.

The main feature of the Big House was always its barn-like appearance, and just like all barns it had something of a small hay loft jutting out of the top. But around the time Camp was being rebuilt after the second titan war, the loft that above the attic was sort of converted into something of a deserted bell tower, right above the spot I'd identified _him_ for the very first time. A sturdy platform surrounded by several skinny stone columns, almost like something you'd see two people getting married on. And the perfect place to catch a visual of the entire camp.

The Big House definitely did not look a barn right then…a massive chunk had been blown out of the side, and a couple stories seemed to have collapsed. It looked a house that you might've found in no-man's land during WWI. Just like I guessed, the muscular silhouette of a 17-year old con artist was blatant against the stormy sky.

Plenty of monsters were guarding the door, obviously, so I decided to take a short-cut through the gap blown into the side, using the collapsed floors as a staircase, and a hiding spot from the monsters scrounging the inside of the house, eating some of the spare ambrosia in the infirmary, and playing Frisbee with some of Chiron's records (which I couldn't really blame them for). Where _was _Chiron?

After what seemed like an eternity of climbing up the destroyed, wet remains of the Big House, I found my self climbing the steps to the attic, which usually wasn't allowed unless it was an emergency, but I had a feeling this was considered an emergency. By now my heart was racing with thousands of possible scenarios, schemes, plans. But sometimes, there was just no way to prepare. No plan for the ultimate moment.

As quietly as possible, I clambered out the window, onto the narrow, slick roof. My whole body was trembling. Lightning lit up my surroundings.

Eventually, I managed to creep up to the side of the bell tower where _he _was standing, just opposite of me, talking into his blue tooth headset, analyzing his magnificent sword. I was sure this couldn't possibly be going any more perfect for him.

"I don't care if Jeremy burst into flames, you guys shouldn't have been eating the ambrosia. Now get back to your posts, and get word to the ninth fleet that their strike-time should be any time now, I'll give the signal when the time is right…"

Ninth fleet? I managed on more desperate look at the Camp below. Everybody looked battered and desperate, there was no way they could hold off another fleet. The dining pavilion was a giant bonfire, by now, and the majority of the cabins had already been destroyed.

Using the sight of my home in shreds as fuel, I clambered onto the bell tower, raising the Dawn Treader slowly, hoping not to get noticed. As soon as I gathered myself, I took on shaky step forward. Rain fell sharply. Against my face. I took another step…and another, my heart racing. _He_ continued talking into his Bluetooth. This was it. On quick dash of my blade, and I could end this. All of this. Set the record straight, and maybe even save whatever was left of camp. But then…

Sometimes, there are emotional things that happen to us in life so sudden, and so momentous that it hits us hard, like a physical blow. Like death, confinement…betrayal. And just when I thought the betrayal of Helix was enough for me to curl up in a ball and pray for Zeus to strike me down, I realized what little amount of damage that really was compared to what happened next.

Out of nowhere a pair of arms seized me, struck me to the ground, and held me in an immobile position. "I got him, boss," said a painfully familiar voice. Helix stopped what he was saying, and spun around to face me- on my knees, my sword on the ground next to me, knife at my throat.

His look of surprise melted into the sly grin I'd become fairly familiar with. "Well, well, well…look who's finally starting to figure everything out," he cooed. I couldn't even respond. My stomach felt sick, tears of rage and sadness threatened to fall. Instead of confronting Helix, I turned to face my assailant.

"How could you do this to me, Moraphine?"

I kept waiting for my misery to ebb into adrenaline, the way it did when I discovered Helix's betrayal, but it just didn't happen. My heart had been sliced cleanly into tiny little pieces, then lit on fire. The person who felt like a father to me, and the person I thought I loved…

As soon as I could register information again, I looked up into Helix's navy blue eyes. In that moment, on my knees dripping blood onto the wet surface of the bell tower, it seemed like all the little pieces of the life's jigsaw puzzle were falling neatly into place.

"I've been your puppet all along, haven't I?" I almost whimpered, "We all have…"

Helix chuckled, which was more or less the same thing as 'yes'.

"This whole time, we've been racing around the country risking our lives just to supply you with warriors…" I couldn't help but think of all the terrible conditions all those demigods I'd rescued must've had to endure under Helix. Rain continued to fall on all of us. Lightning flicked wickedly in the background.

"And all those drakmas and neat things in our wallets…"

"All complimentary of Lord Hades, god of material wealth," his laughing grew louder, "You certainly are the most brilliant person I know."

Before I could question that remark, I noticed the size of his sword 'Pinocchio' expand slightly, as if it wasn't already big enough. I continued anyways.

"And that boar we- I fought in Virginia, it was on its way to Thanantos's cruise ship. Thanantos was driving straight for the Sea of Monsters…he intended to deliver all of the monsters and hypnotized mortals right to Hades," it was hard to imagine the grim reaper with a British accent being the middle man in this whole thing, but it had to be true, "all we- I did was speed up his delivery by blowing that ship up."

Helix nodded, laughing harder. "I think I'm growing more and more fond of you."

His sword grew even larger, shimmering menacingly in the lightning.

"And I'm sure you've become a fantastic fighter."

This time, his sword didn't grow. His laughter died. Instead of continuing to lie, and make his sword grow, he took a couple steps forward, holding his sword like a bat, and taking a few practice swings at my neck. If lies were what made his sword grow, than it probably should've been as big as his ego by now.

I wriggled a little, but Moraphine had me held in a perfect lock with a grip like iron. She removed her knife, and grasped me tighter, her hands shaking slightly.

"Why?" I whispered in her direction.

"I…I really do like you Cade…" her voice was shaky, like she wanted to cry. All she did was hold me tighter. Her grip was like wrought iron.

"Quit yakking, you two…I can't believe you all made it back to Camp so fast, I thought I scheduled this thing perfectly. That's why I sent you all except your little friend here to the west coast, after all. She's become quite the little tool."

I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth chipped. Helix resumed his batting stance. Moraphine whimpered.

Seeing no way to get out of this one, I closed my eyes, expecting my death to come quick and painless. The few good memories I'd had of my lifetime ran through like a 2-second movie, and unfortunately most of it included being with Moraphine and the Society…but suddenly, there was a change in the atmosphere. A huge weight evaporated right off my body.

"What the…?" Helix started. I flashed my eyes open, and swiveled my view around just in time to see Moraphine and Katell tumbling together right off the side of the building.

And there it was- my clean slate. The last chance I had to set things right.

Though it was tough to keep my focus, I managed to propel myself onto my feet, and snatch my sword.

"Looks like it's just you and me…" I said, out of breath, holding my sword up as threateningly as I could. By now, I had a pretty good view of our tower. A couple of the small pillars had crumbled, and some of the stones littered the floor, which was lopsided. Rain continued to pour on us. Helix kept an intense poker face, spinning 'Pinocchio' around in his palm. His mischievous eyes were full of fire. Lightning cackled as though the gods were cheering us on.

I'm not sure how long Helix and I circled around the bell tower like two professional wrestlers, staring deep into the souls of each others' eyes, carefully avoiding the rock fragments that littered the platform. Below I could hear the sound of pain and death, and war and destruction. It really put into perspective how every little thing had come down to this one moment…I tried to push the pressure aside. Now that Moraphine was out of sight, the only feeling I was left with was spite, and anger.

His first move was quick- almost too quick. In one stride, he made a powerful lunge to my weak left side. I choked back a gasp, and did my best spin-move, using the momentum of my spin to get the Dawn Treader moving. Helix read my tactic easily, ducked, and made a follow up slash at my legs. I dodged it for the most part, and tried not to show the pain of a paper-cut sized skid on my calf.

When both of us regained balance, we were pretty much in the same exact position we started in, only on opposite sides, and both of us were breathing heavily. A gust of wind forced the falling rain to ripple like a whip.

Once again, we were left staring into each other's eyes. In ancient Greece there was a saying, "A good defense is your best offense", about fighting (which adapted well into modern sports), and the best fighters kept that as a strategy- always let your opponent strike first. But I already tried, and now Helix was reading me, waiting for my move. And I could sit there in a ready position and wait, just like him, but this fight needed to get on with, so I took a huge stride forward, building momentum with my sword, but it definitely wasn't as fast or strong as Helix's initial move.

I tried a simple slice to his upper-body, but he deflected it with one quick lift by his sword, and followed it up with a stab. I avoided it hula-dance style, and just when I thought I was doing pretty well, my foot jammed right into a large rock fragment. I fell awkwardly, keeping the impact away from my front side. Almost the instant I regained my vision, I saw Helix's sword coming down hard on my face. I held in the urge to scream, and tumbled sideways over sharp rock fragments. Once I was clear, I scrambled up to my feet, but on my way up Helix tried to kick my feet out from under. I almost nose-dived right into another pillar fragment, but I managed to find a balance on the slippery platform somehow, and swung my sword blindly in the general direction of Helix. It failed, obviously, but bought me a little more time to gather myself.

This definitely wasn't 6 o' clock sword fighting lessons.

Even though I was panting like a dog now, I started a sort of sprint around the tower- something Helix had always hated in sword fighting lessons. It was tough avoiding all the little rock chunks, but I could see annoyance in Helix's eyes as he studied my move. Maybe he'd been expecting me to do that, since he reacted fairly quickly, stepping into my path, and when I tried juking away, he intercepted me with the face of his sword, which didn't hurt as bas as you think, but you try remaining calm when you run into someone's sword. Helix seized the moment to curl his blade back around take a mighty swing.

Even without the momentum, I managed to collide swords with him, pressing hard against his blade. But then it was my turn to read his move. He tried kicking up with his left leg, one of his favorite moves, but I released my grip the instance he lifted his foot, and he stumbled forward a bit angrily.

Lightning flashed again. _Don't be afraid to get physical, _the old Helix's voice rang inside of my head. I took one quick second to take a deep breath, and stepped forward, striking his back hard with my elbow so that he hit the ground, face first. He huffed, and didn't waste a second to spin over- nose bleeding, face scratched in several places. He lifted his sword with a huff of effort, and deflected my stab. Almost using that deflection as a fuel source, he leaped to his feet, swiping at where my body was just a millisecond ago. I span my arm around in a clockwise direction, and brought it down swiftly in order to deflect Helix's strike.

He caught the force of my deflection with 'Pinocchio', and flipped his sword around mine, trying a quick jab on my exposed side. I swung in the opposite direction saloon-door style, still getting pricked by the tip. I hid the pain behind a wall of fiery anger.

I chopped downwards at his arm like I was holding an axe, but he pulled out swiftly, coming back with another impressive swing. This time I caught it with momentum, and our swords collided so hard my whole body shook, like hitting a baseball on the small of your bat. My teeth shook.

_CRACK! _Thunder roared at the exact moment our weapons collided, creating even more drama.

There we were again, pressing against each other with opposite forces. My body seemed to be welling with pain, matching my heart rate with painful beats.

All of the sudden, memories of fighting with Helix and the fella's at 11 'o clock PM flooded back into my mind. _You can always change positions_, good Helix reminded. It was so realistic I though the current Helix himself was coaching me, pushing me to my life's extent.

And just like that, I pushed my blade forward with a wave of energy that roared in my ears, and slowly grinded my sword clockwise in order to force his grip into an uncomfortable position. As soon as he read my movement, he pulled out, stumbling backwards over pillar fragments. I charged forward, trying to remain physical. Helix held his sword up protectively, and spun around, completely avoiding my bull rush.

In frustration, I swung my sword at him again, which he deflected with trouble, letting my blade slice through a little bit of his clothing. I arched my sword around again in order to follow up stronger, and our sword collided again.

With that, we began parrying, which wasn't what I wanted because my sword was so light, and I'm sure Helix knew that. As much as I hated to admit it, he was a great fighter.

Our swords collided several times, playing with each other in the middle of a rain storm. Thunder shook our pavilion.

After what felt like an eternity of parrying, I decided to mix things up. I tried an advanced disarming maneuver which consisted of forcing your opponent's wrist into an upward position, then bucking it with your arm, which almost worked, until Helix noticed me duck under our parrying, and knee'd me in the face.

I stumbled backwards, crashing into chucks of stone and pillar, until my body threatened to fall right off the edge, but fortunately, the rain and wind were blowing against my back, and I managed to stay on the platform. Helix stormed towards me, ready to push me off, but realized I could easily move out of the way, and watch him slip right off the edge, so he tried a hefty stab at my legs instead. I bowed my sword above my head, and swatted his sword away, spinning to switch my position to Helix's blind side, and through an elbow at his stomach.

For whatever reason, Helix had decided not to wear armor, and the minute my elbow slammed into his stomach, the air in lungs flew right out. He hack up some blood and stumbled backwards. Before I let myself get fat-headed about my move, I bonked hiss forehead with the butt of my sword.

He backpedaled away from me, right into a pillar, which he held on to with his free hand until he regained his senses. And just like that, there was a new fire in his bloodshot eyes. He made an attempt at a battle-roar, and charged at me like Achilles himself. I took a step forward, built a little momentum with my sword, and met him head on. Our sword collided once again with the force of an atomic bomb, but Helix didn't hold it this time. He spun rapidly, swinging hard at my side, but I met him once again, and began a rally. My plan was to avoid another parrying session, but of course, Helix forced it, doing whatever was humanly possible to further weaken me.

No matter how light your sword is, a good parry can make it feel like it's made of lead, _especially_ the lighter ones. And finally, right when I couldn't stand the pain anymore, I pulled out, cringing in pain. Helix span around aggressively again, making a mighty swing at my back, which I tried to avoid, but failed. His blade drove deep into my thigh. I yelled with agony, and dropped my guard, doing my best to escape his death blow.

Helix turned to face me, and noticed my pain. His sudden fire was replaced with an angry joy, and he began to charge again. Expecting another swing of 'Pinocchio', I began weakly building momentum with my sword, but instead, Helix dropped his shoulder like a running back, and rammed me hard, backwards right into a pillar. Upon impact, my head slammed backwards so hard the world as I knew it seemed to do a front flip. When everything was finally right side up again, I was met with a fist to the face- and right back into the pillar. I could almost feel my skull crack. I was sure my injuries would give any ER surgeon a heart attack.

Helix released his grip on what remained of my shirt, and let me sink down onto the floor, my eyes almost completely swollen shut, my body oozing blood onto the platform.

Helix brought down a brawny stab, and I did my best roll-away. His sword hit the wet floor so hard sparks flew, even in the pouring rain. I tried getting to my feet, but Helix skipped over, and kicked my stomach. I coughed up blood so hard, I thought I was puking. I fell flat on my back, completely deserted of all energy. Helix let out a roar of wicked laughter, and dove on me, slapping my sword right out of my hands, spreading his knees so that I was completely pinned, immobilized, and hopeless.

"That's it? That's all you got?" Helix panted, dripping blood onto my face, his clothes in tatters. He looked terrible, and I knew I looked ten times worse- which wasn't exactly reassuring.

And I was in too much pain to be angry. Lightning flickered behind Helix's head, and I lay there for just a moment, feeling the rain sink into my body. The platform had been permanently stained red in a mixture of my and helix's blood.

I knew my time was almost up. And all I could think of was Moraphine, holding me down as Helix prepared to kill me, Malcolm on my back making my only home living Hades, my ex-"mom" explaining that not only did I not know who my father was, but that I didn't know who my mother was either. The only friends I'd ever had dieing in the clearing beneath me.

But I was tired being helpless, being the weakest link. Rare luck had helped me through every little situation I'd ever been in…and for once I realized I couldn't rely on the gods to make up my fate anymore. I had to take control of my life. I had to end this right now.

"Why, Helix?" I croaked, without even meaning to.

He chuckled, readjusting his sword on my throat. "Kronos was a fool. Going for all the glory before eliminating his obstacle. You little…summer campers were the only reason Kronos didn't seize Olympus. And Hades realized this. He's been waiting for his revenge for a _long _time. His relatives are fools. It's time for a new world order."

"How could you do this for your father?" I continued, feeling life edge away from my body.

Helix laughed even harder. Thunder boomed. "That idiot never did a _thing _for me. I earned my success the hard way, without any help from my father. He designed me to be an outcast, and that's exactly what I am. Exactly what _you _are. What we all are."

Using that as his conclusion, he lifted his blade. Katell wasn't here to save me any more. The drone of battle below muted, the world slowly revolved around this one moment…

_There's always a way out of it._ There I was, in that arena again, with my friends. My friends who _needed _me.

My vision flashed back to the evil, deranged version of Helix in front of me. But he was right…there _was _always a way out of it. You can _always_ switch positions.

In one blindingly fast motion, I lifted my legs above Helix's head, wrapping them around his neck like a UFC fighter, and yanked back with a new sense of alarm.

Helix- eyes wide with shock tumbled backwards, while I limped onto my feet, hardly able to see. He leaped back up awkwardly, but I began circling the Dawn Treader above my head as fiercely as I could. He raised his sword protectively, but it was to no use. The Dawn Treader soared down, seemingly cutting right through the rain and wind. Everything fell into slow motion.

My sword sliced cleanly, right into Helix's side and down through his stomach, cutting through muscle, organs- you name it. My sword re-surfaced so fast, drops of blood soared out with it. Helix made some sort of chocking sound, stumbling back blindly.

He stumbled around over pieces of rock, until he collapsed onto his side, looking desperate and…scared. He cried out in pain.

"Shut up," I commanded, feeling like some gang member confronting his enemy. I could feel my senses fading, my body threatening to collapse on the spot. I was in an unbelievable amount of pain, and losing a dangerous amount of blood.

Helix tried squirming away, but I sliced down hard, giving him another good sized cut on his shoulder. He yelped again, and I kicked him hard in his back. My vision blurred a little.

Mustering whatever energy he had left, Helix mad a last attempt to get to his sword, but I swung the Dawn Treader around in a wide arch, and gave him a scar to think about right there on his face. I followed that up with a justified kick to the ribs.

Thunder roared in the background, and Helix lay there motionless except for his slow breathing, his body drenched in blood, and distorted at all angles. His eyes flashed open, and he looked me dead on with a pair of bloodshot navy blue eyes. My whole body trembled.

He squirmed backwards blindly, puking up blood. When he finally managed to get some sort of hold on himself, he collapsed back onto his knees, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. By now, almost all of sense had abandoned me, and I threatened to completely black out, right there.

"Any last words?" I asked, like any good villain. Because that's exactly what I was, a _villain._

Even though he could barely look at me, it still felt like his eyes were bearing into the deepest depths of my soul, the way the always did. Tears of pain threatened to fall, and not because of my injuries.

"You speak as though this is the end. But it's not. It's _never _the end." Thunder boomed, and the rain seemed to fall harder.

And just like that, with a mischievous smile plastered on his face, he free-fell right off the side of the building, dripping blood as he did so.

I don't know how long I stood there, dizzy, life around me fading. My lips trembled. I did it…I set things straight.

And I felt absolutely miserable.

I killed the person I thought I could trust my life with once.

And on that happy thought, the world around me faded to black. For good.

**Don't worry, I still have one more chapter, just needed to scare you a bit. And I know the beginning half is rushed, but come on, how long did you WANT this chapter to be? All-in-all, a pretty good climax, right? Tell me what you think! REVIEW!**

**Oh man, Claire's gonna' kill me.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Last chapter. I'm so sad…it's like I've gotten connected to all of the characters. And it feels like I could have written this thing so much better, but I suppose I should just kick back and be pleased with what I've done, and how I've done it. Tell me what you think.**

**For the last time…enjoy.**

As soon as I could register my surroundings, dread started clawing its way back into my stomach. The familiar orange, hurricane-style sky, the looming black, obsidian-bone palace. I was dead, and I knew it.

But if I was dead, then why did I still feel like I'd just been put into a blender with a few knives and some salt? And more importantly, why was I right back at Hades' palace, and not waiting to be judged?

Before I had the time to further injure myself with a mound of questions taller than Mt. Olympus, a soothing voice sounded inside of my head.

_Approach, demigod._

Of course, the last thing I wanted to do was enter the palace that I'd seen so many times before. The place were Hades and Helix themselves had practically given me their plans, which I completely disregarded. The place where I had been warned. But when something powerful enough to enter your thoughts tells you to approach, generally, you follow directions. It obviously wasn't Hades, so I had some faith that I wouldn't be falling right into another trap- maybe binded to the Fields of Punishment for an eternity, where I'd have to do all kinds of terrible things. Like maybe walk barefoot through endless miles of hot coal, or take a thousand lashes by the whip of a fury, or worse, listen to three straight hours of Lady Gaga music.

By the time I had subconsciously slipped into the main throne room, still creepy and roof-less, I found myself shaking with fear. I'd already killed Hades' general and maybe even ruined his siege of Olympus. He was the last person I wanted to see right now, or ever.

But to my pleasant surprise, the room was nearly empty. A lot of the gloomy, shadowy stone appearance had disappeared beneath colorful flowers and plants that seemingly had grown right out of the columns. The room had a brighter outlook, and felt somehow cozier…warmer. Or at least as cozy and warm as you could get in the Underworld.

"Greetings, demigod," chimed a voice from the darkness- from the throne next to Hades'.

"Um…hi," I sort of squeaked. Even though Hades was obviously no where to be seen, I still had the creeps.

"You fought bravely," noted the voice, getting up from her throne. Persephone really was beautiful, I could understand why Hades would want to resort to third grade affection-showing tactics for her.

I didn't smile. "Not bravely enough," I responded, "I mean…I'm here right?"

She giggled a little, halting right in front of me. "Do not fear demigod, your body remains above ground. It seems though your mind has adjusted to returning here in your sleep."

A big burst of light and happiness welled in my stomach, quickly running up through my throat. I almost wanted to jump around with joy, like a puppy being handed a cup of kibble. But then it hit me again. How _could _I go on living knowing I was a killer. A murderer. My spark of joy started to die away.

Persephone read my thoughts, instantly, something I hated about gods. "You are not a bad person, Cade," she confided, "you did the right thing. You stepped up when your peers needed you most, and succeeded. That's all that matters in the long run."

I looked down at the ground, trying not to tear up. "But…Helix?" I mumbled.

She sighed. "He was a corrupt young man. And yes, his soul was transported to the Underworld. I'm sure my husband will have a few strong words for him upon arrival."

I looked up again, alert. "Where _is _your…husband?"

She seemed to smile a little. "He's attending an audience with our none-too-happy relatives. He could be back any time, though, and he'll surely be in no good mood after his penalties are assessed."

I clenched my jaw a few times. "Is he angry…at me?"

"I cannot say, demigod. The best thing you can do for yourself is let time recover the wounds placed upon by Hades. Do what you can to stay above ground. Hades himself is bound to recover over time."

I sighed, letting my eyes wander. "Helix told me, right when he was about to kill me, that Hades planned to take over Olympus. He had an elaborate scheme, just like Kronos, except unlike Kronos, Hades had planned to take out Camp Half-Blood first."

Persephone nodded. "All true. He feels…disparaged. Unloved by his brothers. He feels as though he could lead a new, better world starting from scratch. He'd been planning this thing for years. The sign really were everywhere…his desired date in which his plan came together was initially some time in 2012, but he found a general, and things rushed right along."

I still couldn't believe how badly I'd been used by Helix, just like the others. What ever happened to Erica and David? Dalen?

Once again, Persephone read my mind. "The children you rescued are scarred, but alive. As I said previously, time will heal all wounds."

That eased my curiosity a little bit. I couldn't help but feel bad for all the monsters, warriors, and even monsters that had been forced to die and re-die as a part of Hades' tyranny. Their plan had been so genius, so elaborate…and it apparently had fallen apart. And the whole time, I was the tool that made it all come together.

There were still so many things to be asked, but I was cut short. There was a dark change in the atmosphere. Persephone flashed me a scared glance. "You must leave, now, child. Hades returns, and not happily, either. I fear I must leave shortly as well. I stop in occasionally during the summer to do a little housekeeping. My husband is such a slob…"

Just like that, my surroundings started dimming- I was about to wake up. I was about to let myself regain consciousness, but I froze.

"Wait, Persephone."

She stopped. "Yes?"

"Um…thanks for, you know, trying to warn me. Sending those dreams would've made all the difference if I wasn't such an idiot."

She giggled again, giving me a sly, knowing look. "Silly demigod, _I _never sent you a single dream."

The last sound I expected to wake up to was explicit 90's funk rock, but there I was, sitting up in bed inside a ransacked version of the infirmary listening to "Suck My Kiss" straight out of Toby's iPod.

"Yeah! A little '92 funk is enough to wake up anything." Toby said loudly, the sound ringing in my free ear. The inside of my felt like it had just been stirred with a giant wooden spoon and then put into an oven. All of the bumps and cuts and bruises around my body were throbbing in pain.

"'91, actually," I corrected, "It was a single released before the album was."

Toby flashed me a perfect Apollo-child grin. "He's still Cade."

"Unfortunately…" teased another familiar voice behind Toby. My atmosphere came clearly now, and I recognized Katell standing next to Toby. Brock was sitting on a chair in the corner polishing something shiny, trying to hide his amusement. He looked as big and burly as ever. The infirmary was packed with all sorts of kids injured in strange ways.

"Come on guys," grunted a voice that I knew instantly was Zane's. He walked slowly out of the shadowy corner opposite of Brock, his electric blue eyes looking extremely down-to-business, "we've been waiting here for a reason. We _need _information from him…"

"Quit moaning," yawned Toby.

"Yeah…" Brocks double-bass voice agreed from the corner, "give the kid a break. He's had a tough time."

"How long have I been out?" I asked groggily, ignoring the flood of pain that followed.

Katell and Toby shared a quick look, until Katell finally answered, "6 days."

I didn't really feel surprised. Of course, I could be dead, after all. Six days was nothing compared to three hours of Lady Gaga. I figured they were all expecting me to be all shocked that the Camp was still in one piece, but Persephone had already sort of spilled the beans.

"Camp's still here…" I noted, listening closely to the sound of power tool and hammers off in the distance. My body waas threatening to lapse into a mini-coma.

Toby nodded slowly. "Making a fast comeback, at that. Hephaestus and Athena cabins are the perfect carpentry tag-team."

Brock made a chuckling noise. Zane pulled out his electric switchblade, and began spinning it around in his palm, the same way Helix did with 'Pinocchio' not too long ago.

That's when everything hit me again, like a freight train being towed by a fighter jet. Helix was dead, and I was the killer. Camp was probably still in tatters. And Moraphine was…well…wait, what ever happened to her?

"Well I promised the Head Honcho of Apollo cabin I'd teach the fella's how a real man plays the guitar," Toby announced, saying 'guitar' like 'gee-tar', ruining the peaceful silence. Something I figured out he was good at. Zane grunted in frustration, still wanting me to give every little piece of information I could possibly surrender. Brock and Katell didn't look like they wanted to leave, though.

"I know you'll miss me, so I'll drop in later to check on ya'," Toby promised striding out of the room, and picking up his armadillo-shell bow on the way out. Zane stepped out of his dark corner and gave me another bitter glance. Nothing like the Zane I'd seen on the battlefield.

Katell shot me a concerned look as she walked slowly out of the room. "You sure you're all right?"

I nodded the best I could. "Yeah, don't worry about me. Go enjoy Camp life, help your siblings put your cabin back together."

She smiled. "It's already mostly done. All the cabins are like that. Everyone's making a huge effort to put this place back together- good as new."

I found myself smiling back. "Good. I hope to see it soon."

And just like that, I was all alone in the makeshift infirmary with Brock, who had put away his towel, and was analyzing his shiny object.

"What _is _that?" I wondered aloud, not really meaning to. Brock smiled in my direction, his eyes hidden by a pair of mammoth-sized sunglasses.

"Just a little something I threw together in my spare time."

He held up the object so I could get a better view. It was a polished colt revolver with an oak finish, made out of the same steel as the Dawn Treader. It had some sort of intricate vine design running up from the handle to the barrel.

I made a mental note to ask him to 'throw together' something for me sometime.

"Capable of firing 3 rounds of celestial bronze bullets at a time. And the only reason I'm not Laistrygonian meat," Brock explained in his deep, rhythmic voice. That's when I noticed all the blood on the towel he had just used.

The room filled with silence again. Finally, I gave up hoping Brock would openly explain everything to me.

"What exactly happened? I mean…this place looked like toast when I was fighting Helix, and there was supposed to be more to come…"

Brock thought for a minute. "Well, we were weary, hurt. Some of us dead. There was no way to win. But you killed the driving force. Every single last one of those things were being hypnotized; brainwashed by Hades and Helix. Without a coordinator, they didn't know what to do. Some of them just ran around, dazed and confused until they were killed. Most retreated. The remaining fleets never got their summoning, and before Hades could arrive in person to deliver the deciding blow, Chiron managed to reach Zeus, and inform him of the attack. Hades was persecuted, and the Camp was completely ridded of the enemy. They lost just because you left them revoked of a plan."

I guess that explained where Chiron was that whole time. And why Camp was still here. But I still had trouble believing that I, _me, _of all the demigods in the world, single-handedly ended the destruction of Camp, just by fixing my own mistakes. "So…that's it, eh? Helix is gone, and so is the Society."

Brock sighed deeply, suddenly seeming a little gloomy. "So I've heard. Chiron said if there's ever a need for our assistance again, he knows who to call, but it will take a long time for him to trust us like that again. And besides, there's a couple missing positions…Zane seems to have filled-in nicely as a sort of pack leader, and Katell knows an awful lot about us," he gave me a wary eye that I could almost feel through the glasses, "but for now, we just have to make do with what we have, and remain within the borders of Camp. Seize the day in which we can make a comeback."

"So you're all campers now? Just like everyone else?" I asked, sounding a little too excited.

Brock nodded.

I let my head fall back onto my pillow, ready to fall back into a deep sleep, smiling. For the first time in ages, I'd actually have friends at Camp. A reason to wake up in this place every morning.

I expected Brock to leave, but he still sat there, and because of that, I couldn't slip back into my cat-nap.

Eventually, Brock spoke again, sounding a lot angrier than I had ever heard him before. "What Helix did was wrong…" he growled, his voice shaky like he wanted to cry.

I flashed open my eyes to look at him. His sunglasses were on his lap, and his oak-brown eyes were swollen and hard as a rock. I'd never seen him show so much emotion.

He continued, still sounding sad and angry, "I never should have trusted him like…never…"

Feeling really uncomfortable, I decided to break in, do what Athena kids do best and offer some philosophical wisdom. "Hey, man, it's okay…"

He didn't look any better.

"I mean," I pressed, "What he did was terrible, I know. But there's no way to go back in time and stop that from happening. He's gone, and that's all that matters. We can trust each other, and the best way to fight this is…let it go."

Brock continued to stare at his feet. I lay back down.

"I'm sorry. I best be leaving…" Brock mumbled, getting up from his seat, sliding on his shades.

I smiled in his direction. "It's fine, man, I'm sure we all feel bad about this."

I couldn't tell because I was so tired, but it almost looked like Brock…smiled.

Within a week, I was up and moving, and finally making a dramatic recovery. After daily intakes of nectar ambrosia, I was starting to walk around, and move again. Katell, Toby, and Brock visited all the time, explaining all of the cool stuff going on around Camp, which like Katell said- had made an amazing rebound.

Cabins had popped up again, looking not quite as breath-taking, but still pretty good for something made by teenagers, and all of the Ancient Greek-style amphitheatres and pavilions had seemingly sprung right out the ground in place of the old ones. New plants were planted in memory of all the brave draiads who sacrificed their lives in honor of protecting their home and their Camp.

The minute I heard that, I flashed back to the scene of all the draiads running around, screaming in panic.

The funerals for all the deceased campers had come and passed while I was unconscious. There was so many that there were permanent burn-marks on the floor of the amphitheatres stage. And, unfortunately, I knew all of them. I was never close to them, and Hades, most of them I considered enemies, but now that they were gone…it felt like someone had cut a neat little hole right out of my heart. The Camp felt a lot emptier. A little colder. I had a feeling most of us would never get over this kind of traumatic experience.

And speaking of traumatic experiences…

The first thing I was forced to do upon recovery was move back into Athena Cabin, and make room for all the campers who still needed medical attention. Something I had dreaded the moment I awoke in a hospital bed.

I thought I could just sneak in, re-claim my spot (which, as I expected, had been taken over in my absence. I'd just re-claim it in the winter), and get out of there before somebody recognized me, but of course, as soon as I kneeled down in front of a bottom-bunk in the back of the newly-refurbished cabin to check beneath the bunk, a dreadfully familiar voice rang from the entryway.

"Well, well, Geiger, looks like you're the big hero now."

I clenched my jaw, slowly looking up from my spot on the ground. I could deal with meat-eating satyrs, and blood thirsty boars, or even a giant pit scorpion, but Malcolm was _the one thing _I'd never be able to deal with. Whenever he was around, it just made my day go from 'decent' to 'total suck-fest'.

I swiveled my head around completely, and faced him head on, my heart rate beginning to sky rocket. I clenched my jaw a few times. As I got up onto my feet, Malcolm approached, angry looking (as usual) and completely uninvited. We were almost the same height now, which was a pleasant surprise, but he still had me beat by half-an-inch.

"So," he continued, crossing his arms the way he always did, "word about your great escape caught like wildfire…raised quite a lot of questions. Questions about _me. _Whether or not _I _was a good enough cabin leader."

Before I could stop my ADHD from kicking in, I blurted out, "Well, you're not…"

He shot me a glare so furious it took 'first place' right away from Hades. "You've gotten a bit mouthy, too. Maybe your sudden popularity has given you an even bigger head."

Popularity? Yeah, right.

"But anyways, I'm starting to think that maybe your little stunt you pulled back in June shouldn't come free of consequences…starting to think you don't belong in this cabin."

"And I'm starting to think maybe I shouldn't have killed Helix and just let you and everyone else here die…" I seethed, my anger starting to well. That caught him off guard, but he recovered quickly.

"That's a direct assault on me. I don't think Chiron would take kindly to that…might just punish you himself!" He sprouted a wicked grin, extremely reminiscent of Helix's, and started to back away towards the door.

I had to think fast. I didn't really think Chiron would do anything to me, but if he didn't, that would just further push Malcolm to put matters into his own hand. And he was cabin leader, so there was nothing I could do to stop him.

My brain flipped through plan after plan, like I was pawing through a file cabinet. I could blind side him with the Dawn Treader, or blackmail him, or something…but that's when all the memories of my little trip along the west coast leafed there way back into my consciousness.

Just before Malcolm raced out of hearing distance, I sprinted over to the doorway. "Oh, by the way, your dad says 'hi'."

Malcolm froze.

Something between us changed, and the atmosphere grew more tense, like I just brought up a touchy subject. But just like that, it all melted. Malcolm turned around slowly, looking more like a lost puppy than anything.

"W-what?" He asked weakly, his arms shaking at his sides.

"He gave Katell and me a lift when we got into a fix. He's a good man."

Malcolm took a few steps forward as if someone behind me were pulling him with a rope. "Was he all right? What did he look like? Did he…did he really tell you to say hi to me?"

A smile crept onto my face.

I wasn't one hundred percent sure, but it seemed like I just made peace with Malcolm.

The summer days at Camp Half Blood flew by faster than they ever did at any time in the past. In not time, the Camp was up and running again, like a well oiled machine. I found myself training day-in and day-out with my friends…happily. Toby was fitting right in, and teaching his cabin mates the "Happy Gilmore" method of arrow-shooting, which is what he called his odd way of stepping into his shots. Brock was wooing over the Hephaestus kids with handy work, and Katell- as I expected –was excelling in sword fighting classes. Zane hadn't warmed up at all, but he seemed to be enjoying the company of so many other people. Or maybe he was just happy to finally be the leader.

I'd just finished a javelin throwing class with my cabin mates, who had suddenly warmed up to me, as if having a murderer as a cabin mate was all that. Either way, it was nice to feel accepted.

Either way, the sun was setting over the coastline, making the ocean shimmer like a pot of sapphires, and I was sitting beneath a sand dune next to Katell, taking everything in. She was probably my best friend at Camp, but she had the whole "Been through so much together" advantage. It was really nice to hang out on the beach, though, just us. She'd already explained to me how impressed Poseidon was so with me, he secretly gave me a gift while I battled Helix. The rain I felt as I prepared to die- twice. That little extra energy boost he sent was probably the only reason I hadn't died. And I hated admitting that I was actually thankful towards Poseidon.

But Katell bringing up that fight again sort of destroyed my perfect moment. Bad memories of Helix, and war, and Moraphine…the one thing I refused to talk about with anyone. I'd spent almost a month now working up my esteem so I could talk about her without bursting into tears, and I saw no better time to bring it up than now, so I finally let the monkey out of the cage.

"What ever happened between you and Moraphine?" I blurted, completely unprepared for the fresh wave of pain that followed close behind. Guess I didn't prepare hard enough.

Katell stared me down as if to judge whether or not I was ready for the news. I clenched my jaw, and braced myself for the worst.

"Well…" she started, "I completely surprise attacked her, and even though I'm pretty sure we both broke a few bones in that fall, I laid a complete beat down. But I just started getting so tired…the tables turned."

She paused staring into the ocean, the way she always seemed to. "She could've killed me," she admitted finally.

"And she…didn't?" I guessed.

She shook her head. "She just ran, right out of the fight,"

I sat there, hurt and confused. Why would she just run? How could she betray me like that in the first place? I thought back to what Persephone had told me.

Katell read my expression. "Aw, cheer up. I don't think she was all bad. I mean, she ran…Helix had to have been using her, or forcing her to do that, or something. The way you described her made her seem so good."

"She _was _good. Maybe…maybe…" I looked over at Katell, "maybe you're right. Maybe she is good after all. Guess we'll never know, though."

We sighed, almost in unison. The sun kept sinking lower. The summer session ended tomorrow, and almost everybody was leaving- except those of the Society, of course. None of us had anywhere else to call home. And I was extremely happy that I wouldn't be all alone this winter, just like in the past. I finally had friends, and in the fall I'd be old enough to go into the city under Chiron's permission (part of the year-round camper's policy).

And in that moment, I forgot about all the betrayal and pain I'd ever felt. I was actually happy.

I sat bolt upright, smiling. "Bet I can beat ya' to the dining pavilion," I challenged Katell spontaneously. She grinned back, leaping right out of the sand.

And together, we raced off into the distance, away from the setting sun.

**The end. Wow, it's really been a ride writing this thing. And I'm really happy to end my fanfiction career with it. Yep, it was so stressful to find the time to finish this thing, and now I'm in high school- which won't help matters at all. So I'm officially retiring from fanfiction. Hah, I still remember when it wasn't infested with Mary Sue junk. Those were the days!**

**Anyways, in case you didn't notice I left this thing wide open for a sequel. And as much as I'd like to write one, I'd much rather READ one. So if you're interested in working on a sequel, contact me. If you don't want to think up a plot, I have a great one. (I'm looking at you, Claire)**

**Haha, as I wrote this, the whole time I pictured in the form of a movie…it really does make it more exciting. And for whatever reason, I can picture the song "Warm Tape" kicking off the credits. Yeah, I know, of all the awesome Red Hot Chili Pepper songs in the world… "Seize the Day" (Avenged Sevenfold) was also in the mix. And speaking of movie and credits…you know how in movies they add a little scene at the end of the credits to help you leave on a good note? Am I the only one who can perfectly imagine Lynrd and Skynrd waking up in the middle of Manhattan, "Dude, that must've been some party."**

**One more thing: If you read, skimmed, or even GLANCED at ANY little piece of this fic (and you're reading this A/N for whatever reason) please, please, PLEASE…REVIEW! I love reviews, and I want to end my little writing career on a happy note with lots of reviews. Heck, flame if you want, I don't care. Just REVIEW! PLEASE!**

**So with that…I hope you enjoyed this story, and some of the others I've written (and probably not finished). Thank you all so much! **


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